A Legend Awakened
by Blitzing02
Summary: After the events in Alamos Town, Darkrai decides to join Ash on his journey. Along with the Legendary Pokemon, Ash continues his quest to participate in The Lily of The Valley Conference, where he would be facing powerful foes. How will he face the challenges and rivals that await him in the Sinnoh League and beyond?
1. A Legend Awakened!

_**A Legend Awakened**_

* * *

**Before you begin, I would like to tell you that I plan on developing Ash's character as he progresses. Would he become calmer or short-tempered? I leave it for you guys to guess. It won't develop at once. The growth will be visible as the story progresses.**

* * *

_**Speeches :**_

"A" – Normal Human Speech

'A' - Thoughts

_'A' – _Telepathy

Palkia roared loudly casting a pink shadow over the Town of Altamos. The pink light emerging from Palkia's body surrounded the entire dimension which seemed to be retracting into space, taking the form of a shining bright light. Moments later, the location shifted dimensions and the once destroyed Alamos town was now back to how it used to be before Dialga and Palkia clashed to cause the ultimate destruction.

Ash smiled as he gazed at the town of Alamos, which appeared to be unscathed like it was before. He had done it. Once again, the raven-haired trainer had saved the world but not without the help of his Pokemon. Dawn standing beside Ash smiled at the trainer who looked into the dark blue ocean beneath them. Everyone in town ran in joy, celebrating the revival of their beautiful home.

* * *

The sun began to set as Ash, Dawn, Brock, Alice and Tonio stood near the Space-Time Tower, their heads hanging low. The destruction caused by Dialga and Palkia's battle seemed to have been recovered but one thing didn't come back. The one that stopped the two Legendary creators of Sinnoh seemed to have fallen in his attempt to stop the rulers of Time and Space.

The expression on Alice's face showed only despair and distraught. Her protector, friend and parent had gone down saving her. Tears accumulated in the blonde girl's eyes as she thought about the times she spent with the Legendary Dark Type.

"Thank you Darkrai." Alice whispered clasping her hands in front of her chest. She remembered the effort Darkrai put in saving Alamos. He was struck by both Dialga and Palkia's attacks but he still kept on going to save the City he'd protected for so long. When ultimate fight between the Spatial and the Temporal Pokemon threatened to harm her, it was Darkrai who saved her. When Palkia aimed its attack towards her, Darkrai put his life on the line and protected her. Never did he care about what would happen to him, the only thing he cared for was Alice and the town of Alamos. "for everything you did for me. I know whatever I do won't be enough to repay you." Tears started streaming down Alice's cheeks as she finished.

Everyone appeared to have been devastated by the loss of the Pokemon. Dawn and Brock too had water forming in their eyes. But no one was more affected by the death of Darkrai than our hero, who couldn't control his emotions as he tightened his grip on the railing with his hands and kicked it in anger; enraged because he couldn't save Darkrai.

As a few more tears ran down from his eyes, Ash looked towards the sunset. "I am sorry Darkrai." He whimpered. "I should have done what you said and maybe then… you could have been with us today."

The rest of them turned to look at Ash, who appeared to be shattered by recent events. They knew that Ash would take the blame for Darkrai's death on himself. But it wasn't his fault that Darkrai died. The only thing they could do at this point was to give him some time to get through it. So, they started to make their way back with Ash still sobbing as he stood at the same place, not moving an inch. He just couldn't forgive himself for what happened to Darkrai.

Suddenly, Pikachu's ears twitched as he heard something. "Pika?" he uttered as he turned to look up.

Ash noticed Pikachu moving on his shoulder and he followed Pikachu's gaze. When he saw what it was in front of him, he was left speechless. A shadowy figure of someone standing on his back appeared on the mountain. He quickly turned around to see a black, shadow-like Pokémon with a small head, a white fog-like ghostly plume billowing from its head, covering one of its bright blue eyes standing on the top of Space-Time Tower.

Noticing Ash turn back, the others too moved their gaze and they just couldn't believe their eyes. The sad expression on their faces turned to a bright smile. Alice took a few steps closer to Tonio and placed her head on his chest, making the silver-haired boy blush. Dawn and Brock chuckled in joy of seeing that everything would now be okay with Darkrai still being alive.

Ash's laughed in relief as he saw Darkrai standing safe. "Darkrai, you're okay." He gasped in exuberance.

Darkrai stood tall on the Space-Time tower with his legs outstretched and eyes glowing bright blue. He looked at Ash with intent and soon, he descended from the tower. At high speeds, he reached the group within a moment and the first thing the Dark-Type Pokemon did was float near Ash. He comprehended how happy Ash seemed after he saw him and had also seen how the boy grieved when he thought that the Pokemon might have died. Moving his hands slowly towards Ash's face, Darkrai carefully wiped off the tears that still remained on the teen's face. He took a long and hard look at Ash before his eyes glowed once again.

Soon, the Pitch Black Pokemon hovered to Alice who looked just as happy as Ash to find out that he was alive. He roared in a soft tone, making Alice's frown and her smile turned to a look of shock. The blonde turned to face Ash as she took a few steps towards him. She appeared to be in deep thought as she gazed at the amber eyed trainer, who seemed to be confused by what Alice was doing.

"What is it, Alice?" Ash asked the girl who still appeared to be comprehending what Darkrai told her. "Is something… wrong?"

A small smile made its way to Alic'se face as she chuckled half-heartedly. "Ash." She said softly. "Darkrai wants to come with you. It wants to become your Pokemon."

Her last statement stunned everyone. The Legendary Dark Pitch Pokemon Dardrai wanted to join Ash's team by choice? He would be bound to a Pokeball and won't be free to roam around as he wanted. Even knowing all that, he wanted to be caught by a trainer? Sure Ash was an amazing young man and Pokemon trainer who cared for his Pokemon more than anything but a Legendary Pokemon sacrificing its freedom still confused the said boy.

Ash finally got back to his senses, albeit still a bit shaken. "R.. really? He questioned. Turning to Darkrai, he looked at him seriously. "Do you really want to leave Alamos Town and join me on my journey?"

Darkrai remained quiet for what seemed to be the longest time. For moments, he didn't move from his place and didn't move his eyes from Ash. Finally, coming towards Ash, he kept a hand on his chest as he transmitted his thoughts to him.

The things Darkrai felt were now transmitted to Ash, the pains and joys of his life. He saw Darkrai's entire life; from the moment he met Alice's grandmother to the time he met Ash and his friends and put his life on the line to save them. The trainer from Kanto could feel what Darkrai felt through all that.

After comprehending everything Darkrai showed him, Ash spoke with a hint of disbelief in his tone. "I saw your whole life. I understand how you feel Darkrai. If you want to come with me, I'll be glad to take care of you. I vow that I will not use the power that you will provide me for evil." He told him, removing an empty Pokeball from his pocket.

'_If you take me with you, I will not disappoint you.'_ Darkrai assured him telepathically.

Dawn and brock gasped in surprise. A legendary Pokemon was now going to join their journey. Brock had already met quite a few legendaries as he travelled with Ash. And he did realize that the only reason he met them was because he was travelling with Ash. He knew that Ash was special; so special that each and every Pokemon, be it legendary or not wanted to be with him.

Dawn on the other hand just stood there dumbfounded. In her short journey with Ash, many awesome things happened but this by far was the craziest and the most unbelievable.

Before staring at the Pokeball, Darkrai turned back and hugged Alice who shed a few tears on his body. She was going to miss Darkrai but whatever Darkrai had chosen for himself, it was his choice and she wouldn't try to stop him. It would make Darkrai stronger and he would be able to explore the world. Moreover, the trainer he had chosen, Ash was an excellent one. She knew he would take great care of Darkrai but she still wanted to ask him one last time.

"Ash." She called out after she removed herself from the hug. "Please take care of Darkrai."

Ash beamed at her with his usual confidence brimming from his body. "Of course I will. Darkrai is one of my Pokemon now and I will try my hardest to be the best trainer I could be for him."

Without another thought, Darkrai tapped the Pokeball that was offered by Ash and in a bright red beam of light, he was sucked inside. Everyone watched carefully as the ball shook a couple of time in Ash's hands before making a 'ping' sound.

Ash just stared at the Pokeball in disbelief. He'd caught a legendary Pokemon. Now, he even had the support of a Pokemon like Darkrai and he would try to conquer his dream along with it.

"I caught a Darkrai!" Ash yelled in excitement as he raised Darkrai's Pokeball in the air.

Pikachu too jumped in delight of having a new friend. "Pi Pikachu!" He exclaimed doing the victory pose.

The others just snickered at the antics of the trainer and Pokemon.

* * *

Our heroes now stood outside Alice's house in Alamos Town, all ready and set to resume their journey. Darkrai stood besides Ash to bid a final farewell to the place that he called home for many years.

"Ash, I will be watching you compete in the Lily of the Valley Conference." Alice told Ash with a smile as she leaned backwards towards the wall. She turned to Darkrai as she continued. "And I will be watching you battle along with Ash as well, Darkrai."

Darkrai nodded as he moved forward and wrapped his arms around Alice. _'Do not worry, Alice. I am sure that I couldn't have found myself a better partner than Ash.'_

Brock walked outside the house and looked at the group. "It's time for us to get going then." He informed them with a weak smile.

Dawn noticed that Alice just had a bit of worry on her face. She decided to get her spirits up as she lightly giggled. "Don't worry one bit about Darkrai, Alice." She reassured the girl. "Even if Ash doesn't take proper care of Darkrai, I'll always be there to look after him."

Everyone laughed at the blunette's last statement and the slight tension in the air disappeared completely.

"Bye everyone. Let's meet again sometime." Ash bid his goodbye and so did everyone else.

Darkrai decided to travel inside his Pokeball since it would be too risky if anyone saw him with a trainer. Ash had explained Darkrai about poachers who might try to catch him and the Dark-Type of course agreed without a complaint. He told Ash that he was now Ash's Pokemon and he would act as Ash orders him to.

The trio of humans now made their way to Sunyshore City, from where they would catch a ferry for the Lily of the Valley island, the place where the Sinnoh League would commence in two months. Ash was excited, not only for the Sinnoh League, but also for training with a Legendary Pokemon like Darkrai. He had always wondered how it would be to train a Legendary Pokemon and now finally, that dream was gonna be fulfilled.

After walking under the sun for the whole morning, the sight of their destination finally came into view. Sunyshore City was now right in front of them.

As soon as he set his eyes on the City of Sunyshore, Ash scurried towards it followed by Pikachu as he exclaimed in joy. "That's Sunyshore City. I can't wait to reach the Lily of the Valley Island."

Unable to keep pace with the her companion, Dawn called out. "Wait Ash. The ferry that will take us to the Lily of the Valley island leaves tomorrow."

Brock too tried to persuade the amber-eyed boy. "She's right Ash. The Sinnoh League doesn't start for another 2 months."

Their efforts were in vain as Ash and Pikachu didn't seem to hear them. The two ran so fast that they reached the city in practically no time. Ash grinned as he took a look around the city. He was already prepared for the Lily of the Valley conference but with Darkrai on his side, his chances at the trophy were doubled.

Finally catching up to the trainer and his electric type, Dawn and brock panted heavily, clearly exhausted from running.

"You've got to teach me how to run like that Ash." Dawn breathed out as she kept her hands on her knees.

Brock on the other hand wasn't as tired as the blunette ash he kept a hand on his chin and thought out loud. "I wonder where he gets all that stamina."

Ash turned to them with a serious look on his face. He seemed to have realized something. "The ferry leaves tomorrow,, right?" He looked at the sky as he pondered. "I am thinking of switching my Pokemon so that I can get some training as soon as I reach the Lily of the Valley island."

"That's a good idea Ash. If you use all your Pokemon, you will have a much greater chance of winning than if you only use the Pokemon you caught in Sinnoh." Brock agreed, clicking his fingers.

* * *

The telephone rang in Oak's lab as Professor Oak hurried over to the phone. He picked up the call and was pleasantly surprised by the person who had called. He was expecting a call from the trainer anytime because of the Sinnoh League that drew near.

"Hello Ash." The Poemon Professor greeted with a snicker. "How have you been?"

Ash smiled at the Professor before he responded. "I am doing great so far. Have you checked on the update on the Pokemon I recently caught?" he asked.

The Professor shook his head. "No Ash I haven't." he denied. "I did get an alert that you caught a Pokemon almost a week ago but I haven't had the time to check it out."

Ash chuckled at the answer he got. He had figured that Professor Oak hadn't checked his latest capture because if he would have, the Researcher from Pallet Town would just be begging Ash to send his latest capture, Darkrai over to him for research.

"When you see it, you'll be surprised." Ash stated confusing the Professor. Oak's curiosity reached a new level after Ash's unusual response. He was aware that Ash never bragged about a Pokemon he caught, no matter how rare it was. For him to be acting like that could only mean that he must have acquired a really strong and unique Pokemon.

Unable to keep his curiosity hidden, Oak questioned. "What have you caught Ash?"

Ash just laughed at the Professor's reaction. "You'll find out when you check my trainer profile in your lab's database. For now, can you swap some of my Pokemon?" he requested earnestly. "I want to start training as soon as I reach the Lily of the Valley island."

Oak calmed down and nodded his head. "Alright my boy. Which Pokemon do you want back?"

Ash kept a hand to his chin and considered the Pokemon he would like to train first. "Send me back Totodile, Cyndaquil, Corphish and Donphan. I have heard that The Lily of the Valley is a huge island and there are many training fields there." He told the Pokemon Professor.

Oak thought about something for a minute. He looked at Ash as if examining him. 'He might be able to handle that. It's only a prototype but it seems that Ash needs that.' He thought with a simper.

"Ash." He called seriously. "There is a new device invented especially for training. It is a suitcase which lets you keep 36 more Pokemon with you than usual. But it is only for training. You can't use it while travelling. So would you like to get one of those?"

Ash intently listened to what the Kanto native Professor said as he took in every word. He didn't need to think about it twice as a huge grin spread across his face. Of course he'd want to train with such an excellent device. It would let him train almost all of his Pokemon at once. It seemed like the perfect sort of training to be done before an important regional competition like the Sinnoh League.

Without any hesitation in his voice, Ash spoke confidently. "I would like to have it Professor." He tilted his head as he continued. "But how are you going to send it to me all the way here in Sunyshore City?"

The Professor chuckled and began speaking. "You don't have to worry about that. Sunyshore City is known for its technology and there are a few scientists in Sunyshore working on that project. So I will call them and tell them to give one to you."

Ash smiled enthusiastically as he thought about meeting all of his Pokemon at one place again. "Awesome." He boomed. "Thanks a lot Professor."

* * *

The cool ocean breeze flew through his messy, black hair as Ash along with Dawn and Brock looked at the ocean, the disappearing sight of Sunyshore City behind them. After his call with Professer Oak, Ash had done what the Professor told him to and met up with the Sceintists in the museum and got what he wanted.

The Pokeball Suitcase was just like a normal suitcase; the only difference being that the inside of the suitcase was made to hold up to 36 Pokeballs. One of the scientists name Greg explained to Ash how the suitcase worked and Ash understood it all. When it came to Pokemon training, Ash was a genius. He would now be able to train his Pokemon all at once at a single place and he wouldn't just be messing around in the 2 months that remained before the Sinnoh League.

Dawn glanced at the smiling Ash standing next to her. The happy expression on his face made her smile as well. When Ash was happy, he looked so calm and confident. It seemed like he could do anything.

"Hey Ash." Dawn addressed to the trainer from Kanto softly. "Are you going to be training alone?" she questioned, playing with her straight blue hair.

Ash turned to face the blunette who had a slightly anxious expression on her face. He grinned at her. "Yes Dawn. I can't train Darkrai in a place where people might see it. It's just too risky." The blunette nodded her head as a weak smile crossed her features. "But don't worry, I'll be training in the Lily of the Valley island while you guys do you own stuff. I'll be visiting you often."

"I don't know what I'll do if I don't see you for two months." Dawn spoke with a blush on her face, which didn't go unnoticed by Brock. He smirked seeing the interaction between his companions.

* * *

Ash threw a Pokeball in the air and out of the ball came his Darkrai. They were now on Stark Mountain, the only place that ship would be stopping before reaching the Lily of The Valley Island. They were going to be at Stark Mountain for the entire day and the ferry wont be leaving for the Lily of the Valley island till 5 in the evening. So Ash decided to do a bit of exploring on Stark mountain with Darkrai while Dawn and brock decided to stay near the port.

Ash grinned at Darkrai who hovered in front of him. "Darkrai, this is Stark Mountain. It is a place void of people." He explained to his newest Pokemon who nodded in understanding. "So do you want to have a look around the island with me?" he questioned the Pitch Black Pokemon.

Darkrai took no time to respond. _'I'll do whatever you say Ash. I am your Pokemon after all.'_

Ash chuckled at Darkrai's formal behaviour. He was going to be a loyal Pokemon for him and Ash was rue of it. "You don't have to be so formal Darkrai. While I am your trainer, I am also your friend so you have all the freedom you had in Alamos Town."

Darkrai looked at his trainer with newfound respect. The young man in front of him was truly exceptional. Darkrai was now proud of himself to make a wise choice and coming with Ash. Any Pokemon to be trained by Ash should be honoured and he did indeed posses the ability to wield the power of a Legandary Pokemon like him.

'_While I appreciate you kindness, I am your Pokemon and I will do obey any order, any command you give me whether it be good or bad. I trust in you.'_ He stated to his trainer who gazed at him with in admiration.

"Pika?' Pikachu said and turned backwards, the sound of someone approaching them heard clearly by the rodent.

Darkrai too sensed someone nearing. _'There's someone coming.'_ He alerted his trainer.

Ash was just about to recall Darkrai back to his ball but he seemed to have been too late as he heard someone call for him.

"Wait." The voice screamed in shock. "Isn't that the legendary Darkrai?"

The figure that came sprinting towards them was a young boy probably in his teens having brown hair. He wore a blue shirt and blue shorts and had some watch-like thing on his right wrist.

Ash knew that he was too late to hide it so he decided to speak the truth. "Yes, it is. But I would appreciate if you would keep it a secret between us." He requested calmly.

The boy marched forward as he examined Ash's Darkrai with sparkling eyes. He observed the Dark-type Pokemon from every angle and it seemed to be making Darkrai uncomfortable. Normally, he would have just destroyed a human who would dare to come close to him, but now he was much calmer and wiser.

"My name's Ash." Ash introduced himself as he offered his hand.

The stranger shook Ash's hand and revealed his own identity. "My name's Ben." Suddenly, he raised his wrist and posed showing the watch-like object in his hand. "I am a Pokemon Ranger."

"So that must be your Capture Styler." Ash inquired, pointing to the thing attached to Ben's wrist.

"Yes." He nodded. "I see that you are familiar with Pokemon rangers if you know about this."

Ash beamed at Ben as he recovered the many adventures he's had with different Pokemon Rangers. "Yes. I have met quite a few Pokemon rangers before. But I thought that there are no people living here. So do you have a Pokemon to capture?"

The boy snickered at Ash's statement being true again. "You see, there is a Heatran on Stark mountain which knows the move Eruption. A Heatran shouldn't be able to use Eruption but this Heatran somehow could use it. And that's the reason I want to capture it and bring it to the Pokemon Reserve." He explained shrugging his shoulders and putting his hand in his pocket.

Ash appeared to be in thought after he comprehended what Ben had just said. In short, there was this Legendary Pokemon Heatran on Stark Mountain and to make it even special, the Heatran knew the move Eruption.

"I see. So do you mind if I help you on your quest?" Ash asked with a bit of enthusiasm. Darkrai smiled invisibly under his cloak seeing his trainer's energetic nature again.

The ranger pumped his fist in agreement and smirked. "Sure. The more the merrier I say."

And with that, Ash and Ben took off to find the Heatran.

* * *

A full hour had passed since Ash and ben took off to find and capture the Heatran on Stark mountain. They searched many places around the mountain side but their search went in vain. Now, they were inside a cavern of magma, searching for any signs of the Fire-Type Pokemon.

Ash looked at Ben sceptically as he spoke. "Hey Ben. Are you sure that there is a Heatran in this place?"

Ben looked at Ash and dumbly nodded. "Of course. Before I met you earlier, I was chasing after the Heatran but somehow he got away."

Just then, Darkrai sensed something nearby. He used his vision to check the place from where he sensed the energy and there he spotted it, the Fire Type Heatran. Darkrai formed a telepathic link with Ash so as only he could hear him. _'Ash, I found Heatran.'_

Ash quickly spun around and followed Darkrai's gaze and his gaze stopped at a Pokemon who appeared to be reddish-brown Pokémon resembling a tortoise and a ram with dots of orange and gray colour and had metal bangles locked out of its legs. The claws on its feet were in cross formation.

"There it is. It's Heatran." Ash screamed in awe of the Legendary Lava Dome Pokemon.

Ben heard Ash and he finally saw what he had come to the Stark Mountain for. Heatran stood vertically on one of the many hills over the volcano. "We found it." He yelled in joy. Quickly pressing a finger to his Capture Styler, he called out. "Feraligatr, help me out."

Out of the Styler, a blue coloured bipedal crocodile-like Pokemon materialized. The final evolved form of Totodile roared as he took a good look at it's Legendary opponent but Heatran seemed to be unaffected by the glares it got from Feraligatr.

Extending his index finger towards the Heatran, Ben commanded. "Feraligatr, use Hydro Pump on Heatran."

Hearing the ranger, the Feraligatr from the reserve concentrated energy in his throat. Then, it opened its huge jaws and fired a powerful jet of water at Heatran. The Hydro Pump took down a few small obstruction in the way but that didn't slow down the Water-Type move one bit.

Seeing the Hydro Pump coming towards it at a great pace, Heatran too prepared for its own attack. He opened his mouth and huge flames were targeted at the Hydro Pump. The Flamethrower and Hydro Pump collided in mid-air, and surprisingly, in a battle of power, the water from the Hydro Pump evaporated and the weaker Flamethrower struck Feraligatr.

"Gatrrrr." The big jaw Pokemon cried in pain. The Flamethrower luckily didn't cause too much damage because of the Hydro Pump taking most of the flames with it.

Ash gasped at Heatran's power. Even in a clash where it was at a huge disadvantage, it managed to hit its opponent. 'It's really strong.' He thought in awe,

'_It indeed is.'_ Darkrai too was amazed by Heatran's strength.

Ben grit his teeth in annoyance as he made his next move. "Feraligatr, try an Aqua Tail attack."

The command surprised Ash as he looked at Ben as if he was stupid. "You can't expect to win against a Pokemon like that with a frontal attack." He screamed at the Pokemon ranger.

With its tail surrounded with water which rotated around it, the Big Jaw Pokemon jumped and bolted towards Heatran, who too jumped at a higher level. Now standing at a flat surface, Heatran appeared to be ready as a red orb appeared near its mouth and it released a stream of smoke and lava at its opponent. Being unable to complete its Aqua Tail, Feraligatr was sent flying towards the opposite wall, where it crashed making a huge crater in the wall of the cave.

Ben seeing it realized that Feraligatr was badly hurt and it needed treatment. He made a sign and pushed a button on his Styler and in an instant, the Water-type disappeared and was sent back to the Reserve.

The ranger just couldn't seem to find a way to capture the Heatran. "It's too strong. I can't weaken it enough to use my Capture Styler." He said disappointedly.

Impressed by the Lava Pokemon's power, Ash made up his mind to challenge it. It would a great first opponent for his newly captured Darkrai. A battle against a legendary was sure to give him a boost before the Sinnoh League. He glanced at Darkrai with a smirk who seemed to have caught on to what his trainer was thinking as he floated in front of Ash, fully ready for the challenge.

"So I guess we have to take it on." Ash grinned in excitement. "Are you ready, Darkrai?"

Ben just looked at Ash stupidly. "Are you sure you want to fight it Ash?" he asked desperately.

Ash didn't even care to look at the ranger. He appeared to be completely fixated on battling Heatran now. Seeing how strong it was, there was no way Ash would back off now. "You bet." Grinning, he ordered. "Darkrai, start with Dark Pulse."

Without wasting a moment, the Pitch Black Pokemon brought his hands together making a purple-black orb of dark energy in it. Soon, the chains of dark energy scurried at Heatran at great speeds. The wild Fire-Type couldn't counter in time and was struck by Dark Pulse which did a fair amount of damage as Heatran screamed in pain.

"Wow. Darkrai's really strong. It might be able to defeat Heatran." A stunned Ben breathed out.

Ash grinned, complimenting his Pokemon for the first hit. "Great job Darkrai. Let's try to end it quickly. Use Dark Void to put the Heatran to sleep."

The Dark-type obliged as he made a black ball in between his palms and targeted it at Heatran. This time though, Heatran was ready as he jumped up avoiding the Dark Void, showing agility not expected from a Pokemon like it. Then, in mid-air, he formed a silver ball in its mouth and quickly, fired the ball in the form of a beam at Darkrai who was taken completely by surprise. As a result, he took the full brunt of the Flash Cannon, grunting in agony. The Flash Cannon was really strong as it seemed to have taken a toll on Darkrai.

Ash grimaced seeing his Darkrai suffer a major blow like that. "Darkrai, I know you can take more than that. Now use Focus Blast."

With a concentrated energy in his palms, Darkrai formed a sphere and quickly threw it at Heatran. The Heatran countered with its own moves as its head glowed bright but the Focus Blast pushed it back and eventually dealt some super effective damage to the Steel-type Pokemon of magma. It cried loudly as it went crashing through the ground, digging deep in the surface of the ground.

Ash grinned and quickly instructed his next move. "Use Dark Void."

Darkrai obeyed forming his Dark Void in his hand and sending it towards the Heatran. The Heatran was surrounded by dark energy energy and sent into the dimension of Darkrai's sleep.

Ash waited a few moments before glancing at Ben. "Hey, Ben. Quickly capture Heatran!" he told the brown-haired Pokemon ranger.

The statement made Darkrai turn at Ash in surprise. '_What are you doing Ash. Quickly, capture it before it wakes up.'_ He suggested in a high tone.

"But, Ben wanted to take it to the reserve and besides, wont the balance of nature be upset if I catch Heatran?." Ash asked confused at Darkrai's suggestion.

'_That Heatran is too strong to be kept in a reserve.'_ He told Ash. _'And the balance of nature won't be interrupted if you catch Heatran. That rule doesn't apply to all legendary Pokemon.'_ He came forward and put a hand on Ash's shoulder. _'It wouldn't matter anyways because you have a pure heart. The balance of nature would be disturbed if a human with an evil heart captures a Legendary.'_

Ben smiled at Ash as he pumped his fists. "Catch it Ash. You deserve it. As Darkrai said, the Heatran's too strong to be kept in the reserve." He told the raven-haired trainer.

"Alright then. Here goes." Ash yelled.

Without waiting long, Ash removed a Pokeball from his pocket and threw it at the sleeping Heatran, which sucked the Lava Dome Pokemon inside in a flash of red light. The Pokeball started shaking, making Ash, Darkrai, Pikachu and Ben wait in anticipation.

The Pokeball finally stopped shaking and the 'ping' sound came signifying that Heatran had been successfully captured. Ash stood there in shock. In the space of about a week, Ash had caught 2 very rare Pokemon, both Legendary no less.

His first Legendary Pokemon, Darkrai picked up the Pokeball and brought it back to his trainer safely. _'You're a great Pokemon trainer Ash. I am proud to be one of your Pokemon.'_ Darkrai said, handing over the Pokeball to Ash.

"You're wrong Darkrai." Ash smiled. "I couldn't have captured heatran without you."

Ben walked towards Ash with a grin. "Hey Ash. You did great out there man. It was the best Pokemon battle I've ever seen."

Ash just chuckled as he gazed at the Pokeball in his hand. "I caught a Heatran!" he exclaimed, jumping in the air and doing his signature capture pose.

"Pi Pikachu!" Pikachu cheered, jumping on Ash's shoulder.

Darkrai on the other hand just floated in front of Ash completely dumbfounded. The pose Ash and Pikachu did after Heatran's capture had stunned him to the core. To him, they looked completely hilarious. He wondered if Ash did the same pose after he'd caught him but he quickly brushed those thought away as his dark face slightly became red in embarrassment.

* * *

**So, what do you guys think?**

**Tell me what you thought as well as any suggestions you might have. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!**


	2. Launch : Sinnoh League!

_**Launch : Sinnoh League**_

* * *

**Now I would like to clear out a few things before I continue.**

**1\. I know that the Rise of Darkrai took place a lot earlier but I didn't want to go through the entire region of Sinnoh. You know, Darkrai might be too overpowered in the Gyms and all and if I didn't make Ash use him, what's the meaning of this being a Darkrai story then? This doesn't mean that Darkrai will be used excessively.**

**2\. I won't be giving Ash too many Legendary Pokemon. He might catch a couple more along the way though.**

**3\. Someone mentioned that Pokemon owned by trainers aren't pursued by poachers. I would like to remind you about Hunter J. She tried to capture anything that brought her money. So poachers are a threat. Either way, after Darkrai debuts in the Sinnoh League, there won't be a need to hide him or Ash's other Pokemon.**

**4\. I am not sure if this will be a Pearlshipping fic. It definitely will have Pearlshipping moments in the first few chapters. I haven't decided whether to take Dawn to Unova or not. Speaking of which, I wonder if there is any Pearlshipping in this chapter?**

* * *

_**Speeches :**_

"A" – Normal Human Speech

'A' - Thoughts

_'A' – _Telepathy

* * *

The ferry started to near the port on the Lily of The Valley island, the place where the Sinnoh League would take place. The island was huge, with lots of greenery in it. The Sinnoh League would be commencing in the Lily of the Valley Town, which was located not far from the port where the ship carrying our heroes was taking them.

Ash Ketchum gazed at the island with a grin on his face. Like at the time of all other Leagues he'd taken part in, he was excited to take part in the Sinnoh League as well. But the thing that was different about him this time was that he was much calmer and much better prepared. Having another 2 months to train with all his Pokemon before the League was just an icing on the cake for the boy from Pallet Town.

Within minutes, the ferry docked at the Lily of the Valley island with the sound of its chimney. Slowly, all the passengers started to make their way out of the ship and three of those humans were Ash, Dawn and Brock.

As soon as he kept foot on the island, Ash's excitement went through the roof. He pumped his fist in the air to release some of the exuberation that seemed to be building inside of him.

Seeing their friend so happy, Dawn and Brock couldn't help but chuckle. They had no reason to be on the island except to cheer Ash on in the Sinnoh League. Brock,who'd been with Ash for the longest of any of his travelling companion knew how important the Sinnoh League meant to Ash. After losing in three consecutive leagues on his journey, the Sinnoh League was where Ash had the more experience. Unlike in Hoenn where Ash only used the Pokemon he caught in the said region, Ash would be using all of his Pokemon including the ones he caught in Kanto, Johto as well as Hoenn. And he also had Darkrai. One of the reasons Brock was so confident of Ash's chances in the Sinnoh League was Darkrai. Ash did have a few other Pokemon who were super strong and a couple of them might have been even as good as Darkrai, but having a special Pokemon, that Secret weapon in your arsenal is always a huge.

For Dawn, it was the first time she would be watching a League battle from the stadium. Even she knew how important the league meant to Ash. From the day she met the young boy, the only thing she knew that was on his mind was the Sinnoh League.

Dawn smiled at the joyful boy next to her. "We're here." She said.

Ash breathed out excitement as he looked at Dawn. "Yes. And the Sinnoh League Trophy is gonna be mine." He declared confidently.

Brock snickered at Ash's reaction. "You are at your peak but don't get overconfident Ash. There will be some strong trainers participating in the Sinnoh League as well." The spiky haired breeder warned Ash with a serious look on his face.

Ash still held the confident look as he spoke again. "Yeah Brock." He chuckled. "If there's anything I have learned in the years of my journey, its that you can never take a Pokemon battle lightly. That's what cost me the Silver Conference. I was so confident in Charizard's strength that I forgot to study my opponent and ended up losing by a hair." He looked at the ground. Even though he was confident, he still had that tinge of nervousness roaming inside his mind. For him, a Pokemon League was always like an exam that he couldn't be prepared enough for.

* * *

After the capture of Heatran, Ash and Ben both walked to the port, discussing about Ash's new Heatran along the way. The young Pokemon trainer requested Ben to not mention about Heatran to his friends and agreeing on it, Ben didn't tell either Dawn or Brock about it. He introduced Ben to Dawn and Brock on the shore and told them how he wanted to take Heatran present on the island to the Pokemon Reserve, but being cautious of never mentioning that he caught the said Heatran.

Standing tall outside the Pokemon Center, Ash faced his two special companions along whom, he'd travelled the entire region of Sinnoh; from the small town of Sandgem to the towering and snowy mountains of Coronet. Now, the young man from Pallet Town was finally here, ready to train for the event he'd been waiting for; the Sinnoh League for which he waited from the first moment he arrived in this lovely region.

Pikachu perched up on his shoulder, Ash beamed at the blunette, who'd almost teared up. Standing beside her , brock too appeared to be happy. No, what Brock felt was not happiness, he felt proud. The young man that he met in Pewter City all those years ago was finally growing up into a man.

"Ash…." Dawn mumbled, getting a little closer to the rave-haired trainer. "Can't we come with you?" she almost pleaded. The beautiful coordinator had been adjuring Ash to let her and Brock come along with him on his training. Well, she wanted to come with him alone, but she knew it would sound awkward if she said such a thing.

Placing both his hand on Dawn's shoulders, the said trainer stated the thing that he told her so many times in the previous few days. "No, Dawn. I want to do this training on my own." Seeing Dawn's facial expression turning into that of disappointment, he tried to cheer her up. "You don't have to worry about me. I'll be fine. Besides, I will be contacting you from time to time. It's only a couple of months. Time will fly by."

On the words that he spoke, Dawn squeezed on to Piplup tightly in her arms. "Pip… lup" The penguin Pokemon cried at the pain he felt. Even though it was only two months, she just couldn't bare even the thought of being away from her best friend for so long. A tear slipped down her cheek as she looked at the floor in dejection. Without even having theslightest idea of what she was doing, Dawn threw herself at Ash, hugging him tightly.

Ash suddenly felt something heavy clinging to his body. When he looked down, he saw beautiful blue hair; the one who clung to him was Dawn. Somehow, he could feel his shirt getting wet. Was e sweating? No, the wetness was because tears were running down Dawn's face. At that, Ash's hand automatically, began to comfort Dawn by running itself through her hair.

Brock, who'd been a spectator until now, chuckled. He knew this was coming from miles away. Ash was always there for Dawn, whether it was the time when she lost her first contest or the time when she lost to Zoe in the Ribbon Cup. And Dawn appreciated that. Without even knowing about it, she'd fallen for Ash. Brock observed how the coordinator reacted to everything he did and for a man who was a love expert like he was, it didn't take long to figure such a thing out. The gazes that Dawn gave to Ash recently never told him otherwise. 'Young love!'

Pikachu, sitting merrily on Ash's shoulder made a cute "Chuu" at the scene. Being Ash's partner, he held on to things happening around him more than the teen did.

Finally getting an idea to cheer up Dawn, Ash quietly whispered in Dawn's ears, which took the blunette by surprise. "Hey Dawn. How about this?! When the Sinnoh League ends, let's go to Pallet Town together. There are lots of things that I want to show you."

Not letting go of Ash for a couple of second after he offered that, Dawn eventually removed her face from his chest at looked at Ash with eyes which had a mixture of feelings. "Promise?" she murmured, letting go of Ash and standing straight, eyes still on her friend.

Ash smiled, meeting Dawn's gaze. "Promise. I will take you around my hometown after I win the Sinnoh League."

Dawn let out a cry hearing that. She lightly punched Ash in the chest. "That sounds good!" she giggled.

Brock gave the couple the time that needed and finally approached Ash. Ash was like his younger brother after all. "Hey Ash. Don't worry about Dawn. I'll take care of her!" he said. "you go out there and train your heart out. You don't want Dawn to see you lose now, do you?" The tan-skinned companion of Ash's turned his eyes to Dawn, who appeared to have a blush creeping on her face.

"Of course. I have come so far, I won't let my Pokemon's hard work be for nothing." Ash announced confidently, punching the air. The act made both Dawn and Brock, as well as Pikachu and Piplup burst out laughing. Even though Ash had now caught a legendary Pokemon, his attitude still remained the same.

Just then, Ash and the others heard a loud roar. They turned up to see in the direction the roar came from; and their gazes met with a huge orange-coloured dragon descending their way. As soon as they saw it, Brock's and Ash's eyes became joyful while Dawn's expression showed only awe.

"Rawwwrrr!" roared Charizard, landing on the ground with a loud and powerful thud.

Pikachu got down from Ash's shoulder and jumped at Charizard, taking a seat of his shoulder instead. Unable to control his exuberance, Ash too ran towards his first Fire-type Pokemon and greeted him.

"Hey Charizard. It's been a while, buddy!" A huge smile covered Ash's face meeting again with one of his oldest Pokemon.

"Raaawr!" he gave out a small roar of delight, just as happy to re-unite with his old friend.

Ash couldn't wait to start his training anymore. This time he wouldn't let his Pokemon's training go to waste. he was fed up of losing in Leagues after working so hard along with his Pokemon. He'd had enough of it. This time, along with his Pokemon, he planned on winning.

And so, he leapt up behind Charizard's back and shouted. "Let's go, Charizard!" His voice contained confidence; confidence in himself and also his Pokemon. Like he counted on his Pokemon to come through, even they counted on him to come through for them. But never did they complain to him about being a bad trainer. Even his Pokemon which had pride like Charizard, Sceptile never once blame him for losing even with all their power.

"Brock, thanks for your instructions about camping and Dawn…. " he turned to the blunette. "I will keep my promise."

With those last words to two of his best friends, Charizard took flight, his wings blowing dusts in all directions.

'We believe in you!' Dawn and Brock smiled at the disappearing sight of their friend.

* * *

Charizard flew through the skies at high speeds, showing his trainer the results of his training at the Charicific Valley. The air current was cutting through Ash's skin, sending him shivers of excitement. Pikachu, on the other hand struggled to hold on to Ash's coat for his life. They flew over the sea, around the cities and it just had been a few minutes.

After a good flight, Charizard along with Ash and Pikachu landed on a barren field. Surrounded by forests, the location looked like the perfect setting for Ash to train his Pokemon.

The Pokemon suitcase in his hands, Ash gazed around the field and nodding to himself once, threw all the Pokeballs present in the suitcase in the air. With flashes of red light, all of Ash's Pokemon materialized and cried their respective cries.

Ash looked at each and everyone of his Pokemon on the field and chuckled in excitement. The Pokemon friends that he'd made throughout his long journey were present here. But he didn't have time to be lost in nostalgia right now. The Sinnoh League was approaching and he had to make the most of the limited time left.

Without thinking any further, the rave-haired trainer unclipped two Pokeballs from his belt and released the Pokemon inside. Out of the ball came his two newest captures and the two he held the most pride for, Darkrai and Heatra.

"Guys," Ash started, addressing all his Pokemon. "Meet Darkrai and Heatran – two legendary Pokemon that have decided to join us." He stated proudly as all of his Pokemon stared at the two Legendary captures. "The Sinnoh League is almost here and this time, I won't let you down. We will work hard to achieve or dreams!"

All his Pokemon roared at his announcement. They all had the same determination as Ash; to win every battle they took part in.

* * *

Days passed as Ash and his Pokemon trained in solitude, in preparation for the Sinnoh League. Everyday, they woke up early and trained throughout the day, giving it their all. The only way to achieve their trainer's dream; their dream was with hard work. And if there was anything that Ash's Pokemon excelled at, it would be training like crazy. Well, their stupid trainer was no different, at least not this time. Because Ash trained along with them. He understood now that the only way he could fully understand his Pokemon was for him to experience the same hardships they did; doing the same training they did.

So far, Ash was proud of what his Pokemon had achieved. In a span of just a month, Ash could tell just how much his Pokemon had grown. Because, he grew along with them.

Standing in the middle of the field Ash looked at his Pokemon sparring with each other; Charizard going up against Heatran, Sceptile confronting Darkrai, and others working hard as well.

As Heatran released his Flamethrower, Charizard countered with his own. A fierce battle between two signature moves of fire types began; both pushing hard against each other. Both Flamethrowers fought for dominance before a they vaporised into smoke covering the area; just a glimpse of the power of the two Fire types.

Sceptile released leaves from his body to counter the Dark Pulse released by Darkrai. Heracross and Infernape too began a brawl between two fierce fighting types; throwing punches filled with strength at each other. Staraptor and Swellow began a battle in the sky, both of them flying at extraordinary speeds and launching Aerial Ace whenever they got the chance.

Ash couldn't help but smile and feel proud of the hard working Pokemon of his. Each one of them gave it their all and progressed , in order to fight for him. But he trained himself as well. Just as he'd originally planned, his body began to take shape and show the results of his training.

* * *

Time seemed to fly by as Ash trained along with his Pokemon on the Lily of the Valley island for two months. But now, the time for the Sinnoh League, also known as the Lily of the Valley Conference to commence was here.

A young man with raven hair and brown eyes, wearing a blue coat over a black undershirt, blue jeans and shoes marched along the path that lead to the Pokemon Center of the Lily of the valley island. After two months of rigorous training, Ash was now ready to take on the some of the Pokemon trainers from not only Sinnoh, but the best trainers around the world.

Upon seeing the Pokemon Center in front of him, Ash pumped his fist. His face held a confident look, but his expression was different that usual. He had informed both Dawn and Borkc that he would be coming back today and they said that they would be waiting for him in the Pokemon Center. Of course, as he promised to them, he always kept in touch while the two months he trained.

"That's the Pokemon Center!" Ash smiled at the sight. The Pokemon Center as massive, as expected of a Pokemon Center near the stadium where regional Pokemon League would be taking place. Pikachu, sitting comfortably on Ash's shoulder also looked confident.

"Pi Pikachu!" he yelled.

* * *

He entered the Pokemon Center without wasting too much time. He looked around the huge building, hoping to find his two trusted companions as soon as possible.

"Hey Pikachu, why don't you look at that part of the Pokemon Center," The young boy pointed to his left, gesturing for Pikachu to look for Dawn and Brock. "and I'll look on this one." He pointed to the right.

The yellow rodent jumped down from his favourite resting place and gave Ash a victory pose. "Pika Pika!"

As Ash roamed through one of the biggest Pokemon Center he'd been in, he could see various trainers along with their Pokemon doing various stuff. Some chatted to their friends while some petted their Pokemon. Of course, there were those who showed their Pokemon to nurse Joy and registered for the Sinnoh League.

Spinning around to get a better view, his eyes fell upon a girl with blue hair, wearing a white, knee-length skirt and pink blouse. It was a new outfit and Ash thought that she looked pretty in it. The teen realized that Dawn hadn't noticed him yet. She looked in Ash's direction but surprisingly, she had no idea of Ash being there. On that, Ash decided to approach her.

Hands in his pockets, our hero walked towards the girl and stood right in front of her. Dawn's eyes noticed Ash and she was left speechless.

"Is that you, Ash?" The girl had a puzzled expression on her features.

Ash couldn't believe it. Did he change that much in just two months that Dawn couldn't even recognize him. He stood right in front of her and she still wasn't sure if it was him. He rubbed the back of his head and stared at Dawn right in the eyes.

"Of course it's me. Who else would it be?" He told her.

The reaction he got from Dawn wasn't one he expected. She appeared to be dumbfounded; so shocked that she couldn't even blink.

For Dawn, time seemed to have stopped. She couldn't believe what she saw. Ash had returned and was right in front of her. In these two months, she'd missed him. There were times where she couldn't bear it anymore. She wanted to be with him, be with the man she loved. Yes, in the time that she was away from Ash, she'd realized that Ash was more than just a best friend to him. Of course, Brock did push her in the realization. She finally came to understand that she loved him. She never felt like this even when she was away from her mom.

Ash on the other hand just titled his head in confusion. "Umm… Dawn?" he placed a hand on her shoulder in man attempt to bring her out of her daze. "You still with me?" He shook her a few times but to no avail.

"Hey Ash!"

Ash turned to where the voice came from and saw Brock approaching them with a smile. Ash, too beamed at his oldest companion.

"What's up Brock?" Ash greeted Brock, raising his right hand.

And Brock's name was enough to bring Dawn back to reality. She spun her head to the direction from where the spiky haired breeder came. But she whirled her head at Ash again, this time launching herself at him.

Dawn tightly held onto Ash's jacket, burying her head in his chest. Her mind was made up. She'd decided to confess to him after the Sinnoh League. But that didn't mean that she can't enjoy her time with him before that.

"I've missed you." She spoke softly into his shirt.

"I've missed you guys too." He told her. "It was quite tough without Brock around to cook, you know."

That last statement hit Dawn like a bullet in the heart. Ash only thought of Brock while training. Did she hold so less value to him. She loved him but did he even like her? What if he considered her like a little sister? Thousands of questions ran through her mind.

Brock, who now stood right next to the two, face-palmed. Why did his friend have to be such a dumbass? He could've at least said that he would have loved to take her along but couldn't do so. For now, Dawn decided to ignore it. She would know how he felt about her when she tells him her feelings.

"Hey brock, is it me or has Dawn gotten shorter?" Ash questioned pointing a finger at Dawn who could only come up just above his shoulder. Last time he remembered, her height was pretty much equal to his.

Brock placed a hand on his chin in thought. "I didn't notice it before but you;ve gotten taller Ash. Also, you've buffed up a little." His never-opening eyes popped open in surprise. "Don't tell me you've been working out."

Ash rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "I did do some training along with my Pokemon but I don't think I've changed much."

Dawn blushed, gazing at Ash's newly built body. Her thoughts seemed to be going somewhere else, so she shook her head to brush those away.

* * *

In front of one of the counters of the Pokemon Center, Ash appeared to be confidently standing to get himself registered for the Sinnoh League. But before he could, Brock as always, took Nurse Joy's hand in his and knelt on one knee, claiming his proposal of love again.

"Nurse Joy, will you give me the joy of taking you- Ahhh" Brock screamed in agony as his Croagunk did his job as always; jabbing Brock's butt and taking him out of the Pokemon Center building.

"Croaaa gunk!" The Poison-type let out before taking Brock outside.

Ash, Pikachu and Dawn sweatdropped, while Nurse Joy just let a chuckle of surprise. Ash and Dawn saw this happening far too often to be surprised.

"Nurse joy, I would like to register for the Lily of the valley Conference." Ash told the pink-haired Pokemon Nurse.

Nurse joy beamed at Ash. "I just need to see your Pokedex and the badges."

Ash removed his Pokedex from his jacket along with the badge case. He offered both of them to Nurse Joy for verification. "Will these do?" he tittered.

Joy took both the badge case and Pokedex from Ash's hands and kept them under a scanner. After getting verified under a green beam of light, Nurse Joy entered information in her computer. "Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town." She uttered while typing. After entering all the information on the computer, she placed the Pokedex and badge case on the counter. "You've been registered for the Sinnoh League. Good Luck!"

Ash controlled the urge to scream and calmly took back his stuff. "Thanks a ton, Nurse Joy!" he showed his gratitude.

The said nurse waved her hand with a smile. "That's my job."

* * *

The day before the tournament was an important day for not only Ash, but also for every other trainer participating. The day when the Opening Ceremony would take place, the day where trainers will have to control their nerves. They don't want to get sick just before such an important tournament now, do they?

But Ash didn't appear to be nervous as he looked out of the balcony of the room given to him by the Pokemon League. The confident look on his face came due to the harsh training he did along with his Pokemon. Having experienced the same pain they did, he knew their strengths better than ever before.

Suddenly, Ash felt a pair of hands around his chest. He turned around to find Dawn clinging onto him from behind; eyes closed as if in delight, just wearing her night gown. 'She never wore stuff like this before on our journey.' He mused.

"That looks good on you, Dawn." The trainer complimented Dawn, who couldn't help but blush at the rare praise from Ash. It made Dawn hold Ash even tighter, her boobs brushing Ash's naked back.

"Thanks!"

Brock and Pikachu, watching from the corner of their eyes snickered.

"Pikachu, you must watch out." Brock started raising a finger in the air.

"Pika?" The Electric-type could only blink in surprise.

"Your best friend might get stolen away from you soon." The spiky-haired trainer warned Pikachu, who just tilted his head in confusion.

* * *

As the day went along, Ash and his friends enjoyed it at their fullest. Ash had been away from them for quite a while so it was only fair that he made up to them. They roamed around the various stalls set up for the Sinnoh League Conference. After having their breakfast in a nearby café, they went in the mall where Dawn bought a lot of stuff including a few clothes for Ash. Pikachu just fell in love with a Pikachu plush and made Ash buy that for him. On the other hand, Brock stocked on things that he lacked. He wouldn't need it for a while but he wanted to still stock up on things.

After having lunch, the group went to a well-known ice-cream shop. Dawn bought vanilla, Ash and Pikachu had chocolate while Brock ordered a strawberry ice-cream. Just as they were about to leave, they heard a very familiar voice call for Ash.

"Ash?" Cynthia, who came to buy an ice-cream for herself called.

The said boy turned around and was in a state of shock for a moment to see the blonde champion of Sinnoh coming towards them. "Hey there, Cynthia!" he saluted, waving his hand to the lady.

As she came next to Ash, Cynthia kept a finger on her cheek. "Are you maybe wearing heels, Ash?"

Dawn and Brock burst out laughing while Ash just looked at her with a look of disbelief. 'Is the Champion of Sinnoh this silly?' he couldn't help but ask himself. But Cynthia couldn't be blamed. For her who'd met him just a few months ago, the change was drastic. He just stood a couple inches below Cynthia and this lady wasn't the shortest person around.

"Ash had been training." Brock informed the puzzled Cynthia.

"Ohh!" she mumbled. "I assume you're prepared for the Sinnoh League, Ash?"

"Of course, I am. If there was time, I might have asked you for a sparring match." Ash said calmly.

Cynthia appeared to be really amused here. She didn't expect such a bland and composed reply from Ash. From what she knew of him, he was probably the most energetic and proactive trainer she'd ever met when it came to something about Pokemon. She figured that not only his body had grown, but he himself had too. Well, Ash did do concentration exercises every morning along with his Pokemon, after all. It was only natural that he would be calmer and sharper.

Cynthia didn't realize that she'd been in thought for too long. Her eyes glued at Ash, he thought that something was different about the way she was acting. And he could only come to one conclusion, she wanted his ice-cream.

"Here!" He offered his chocolate flavoured ice-cream to Cynthia. "Mind having some ice-cream?"

Startled at the sudden proposal, Cynthia came out of her trance and blinked. "I'll get one for myself. You should eat it." She refused politely.

"Nah… I don't have a sweet tooth. Take it!" He pointed his hand at Dawn standing behind her. "Dawn forced me to buy one."

Unable to resist the urge to gulp down the ice-cream, Cynthia took the offered the ice-cream and began to devour it. "Thanks!" Even the people passing by stopped to watch the scene. Cynthia just kept on licking the ice-cream, paying no mind to anything happening beside her.

* * *

Fireworks were lit around the main stadium of the Sinnoh League as the Opening Ceremony began with a speech from the Pokemon League President – Mr. Charles Goodshow.

"I thank you all for gathering here for this year's Sinnoh League tournament." He began, stroking his white beard. "All of the trainers participating have proved their strength by winning eight Gym badges from all around Sinnoh. Just by being in this tournament, you've announced yourself as someone to be reckoned with." The crowd as well as the participants applauded. "Now as you know, there can only be one winner, but even if you lose, you should never lose hope. Try and try again and someday, you will be at the top. That's all from me. I wish you the best of luck for the tournament. The Sinnoh League begins now. The match ups for the top 128 will be displayed on the screen shortly."

More fireworks were fired in the sky once again and the cheers from every person present in the stadium could be heard till miles away. But what the trainers waited for was just displayed at the huge screen on the top of the stadium -The match-ups for the top 128.

As Ash searched for his match-up, he saw Paul standing at the far end of the stadium. He snickered at seeing him but he still had his eyes on the screen, scouting his opponent and he finally found her. The one he would be facing was a girl named Marianne. 'Look out Sinnoh League!' he smirked, putting his hands in his pockets and walking out of the stadium.

* * *

**Well, Ash didn't see his friends for month and I haven't been writing Pokemon for months as well. But here I am. This was more of a set-up chapter for the Sinnoh League so not much of action in it, if there was any.**

**Next chapter will contain battles, quite a lot of them. I haven't yet decided if I want to write about other's battles like Paul's, Barry's, etc. Maybe, I will write about their end moments of their battles. Tell me your views on the matter. Should I include those battles or not?**

**And, was Pearlshipping too much in the chapter? **


	3. Ice and Ray

_**Ice and Ray**_

* * *

**Well, you guys must be surprised that I have uploaded 2 chapters in two days, unusual for me, huh? I wanted this story to progress into the Sinnoh League ASAP and that's why this new chapter. **

**I won't waste anymore of your time in this stupid note. I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Ash stood in front of the video telephone, Porfessor Oak staring at him like a vampire. This was the first time Ash contacted Professor Oak after he talked to the Researcher in Sunyshore City and he was sure that he would be having a long lecture from him.

Professor Oak after staring at Ash for long moments finally cleared his throat. "What the hell have you been doing, Ash?" he almost screamed, eyes wide open. "What kind of Pokemon have you been catching?" he demanded out of the raven-haired young man.

Ash just waved his hand in front of his face, greeting Professor Oak. "Calm down, I can explain."

Jumping on the video telephone present at his lab, Oak glared at Ash dangerously. Ash took the queue and didn't waste any time in starting his defence. Ash calmly explained all the events that happened with him in the past two months, not leaving anything out. He told Oak his story from the moment he stepped foot in Alamos Town till he came to the Lily of the Valley island after his training.

To Ash's surprise, Professor oak took his demonstration better than he thought. Ash believed that Professor Oak would just scold him for not sending the Legendary Pokemon to the lab for research but he didn't. Instead, Oak told him that he held pride in what Ash's achievements as a trainer.

Placing a hand under his chin, Professor Oak questioned. "Ash, I would be right to assume that you will be using them in the Sinnoh League?"

"Yeah, I plan on using them. It would be a waste if I didn't and ended up losing." He chuckled. "Although, I would like to avoid using them early in the tournament."

The Pokemon Professor from Pallet looked at the ceiling, as if thinking something. After a few moments, he snapped his fingers in front of his face, completely startling Ash. "I am going to be coming to the Lily of the Valley island to see the latter part of the Sinnoh League."

Ash appeared to be overjoyed hearing the Professor. If Professor Oak would be coming to the Lily of the Valley island, there was a high chance that Delia would come along with him; and Ash wanted to see his Mom. It'd almost been a year since he last saw her.

"That's a great idea, Professor Oak." Ash beamed at the old man. "So, you'll be bringing Mom with you?"

"Yes, of course. I am sure that as soon as Delia gets the news that I will be going to watch the Sinnoh League, she would come along. After all, she hasn't seen her son in a long time now." The Professor elaborated.

"Anyways, as I told you, I'll be sending Darkrai and Heatran over to you." The boy from Pallet Town unclipped two Pokeballs from his belt and placed them in the transfer machine.

"Which Pokemon would you like to have me send over to you, young man?" Professor Oak readied his transfer machine as well, fully prepared to transfer the Pokemon Ash would want.

"I would like to have….."

* * *

Ash, Dawn and Brock sat on one of the sofas of the Pokemon Center, waiting for Ash's match to begin. His match against Marianne was scheduled for 3 in the afternoon and the time was just 12 noon. In his months training, Ash had learned to concentrate and keep himself calm even in the grimmest of situation and that would only help him in the tournament.

"Which Pokemon are you going to use in your match today Ash?" Brock turned to Ash, who sat beside him, seemingly in deep thought.

Brock's question got Ash's attention as he grinned. "It's a secret, Brock. You'll have to wait for my match to begin."

Hearing the conversation between her two friends, Dawn who was stroking Piplup's fur until now asked a query of her own. "It's a one-on-one match, right?"

"Yes, all the matches of this round will be one-on-one." Ash told her. "It would take too long if it was 3-on-3 from the very beginning, you know." Dawn nodded, taking in what Ash just said.

"The number of competitors vary in each League. This time the amount of trainers were closest to 128." Brock began his elaboration about the Pokemon League, his friends listening to him keenly. "The number of trainers participating in the Lily of the Valley Conference is 119. So, the battles will be arranged in such a way that the next round will have 64 contestants remaining. That's why, some of the trainers will get lucky and will fight directly in the Top 67."

Dawn and Ash both understood exactly what Brock tried to say. In other words, some of the trainers will have a free pass, which will directly put them in Top 64.

"What if the trainers were more than 128, say 135. Then what'll happen?" Dawn curiously stared at brock, expecting an answer like he always gave them. Ash too seemed to be interested in it, leaning forward with interest.

Brock nodded and again started explaining. "Since 135 is closest to 128, some of the trainers would have to fight twice in order to reduce the participants to 64."

"That's unfair." Dawn argued.

Ash chuckled at the serious expression on Dawn's face. He wondered why she was taking the Pokemon League rules so earnestly. "That's how it goes. If there are less trainers, then you get directly to the Top 64 but if there are more, it's only fair that some trainers might have to battle twice. In fact, I would have been happy if I got the chance to battle twice."

Dawn tilted her head in confusion as to why Ash would want to fight twice. Wouldn't it be just easy for him to have easy battles and advance as much as possible into the tournament? On the other hand, Brock snickered. He understood what Ash meant. Ash was a battle-maniac and to him, the more he battled, the more experience he would gain, turning him into a stronger trainer after each battle.

"Hey Ash!" A voice which our trio was familiar with seemed to be getting closer.

Looking straight ahead, Barry ran as fast as he could towards them and the three humans knew what was coming. But before they could move, the frantic blonde trainer crashed at Ash, hitting him on the head.

"Aaaaaaoooooo!" Barry growled in pain, having both his hands on his head. Not even a moment had passed before he made his proclamation. "What the fuck is your head made of? I am going to fine you for crashing into me!" he shouted. On his antics, everyone around, including the people nearby watching, sweat-dropped. The same greeting as usual, Barry hadn't changed even after all this time.

Ash recovered soon enough and stared at Barry, giving him an intimidating look. Even Dawn and Brock hadn't seen their friend in a state like this. But the person for whom the glare was for appeared to be sweating in fear.

The extra-energetic teen took a few steps backwards in horror, fearing for the worst. He knew that now he'd done it. He'd done this same thing too many times throughout Sinnoh and it was about time he paid for it. "Uhhh… Ash.." he stuttered to find words for his defence. "Sorry, sorry , sorry. You don't have to pay the fine."

Barry closed his eyes and crossed his arms to take the least damage from what was about to come, but the blow never came. He waited for what seemed to be the longest time but still he didn't get hit. "Huh?" he opened his eyes, noticing that was surprised at his actions.

"What's the matter, Barry?" he asked courteously. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Barry looked around him to find everyone laughing at him. His cheeks flushed from embarrassment. What the hell was he thinking being afraid of Ash like that. Ash didn't like violence and he must've been a fool to assume that he would hit him, a friend of his.

Dawn and Brock watching from beside Ash couldn't control their laughter anymore. Barry had just made a fool out of himself; something like this should've been expected from him.

"I didn't see you around Barry. Have you registered for the Sinnoh League already?" Ash came forward and asked.

Like always, it didn't take long for Barry to get his smile back as he pointed a finger in the air. "Of course, Ash!" he told him. "I came here 2 weeks earlier so I could register. Don't include me in the same category as you."

At the last statement of Barry's, an irritated expression appeared on Dawn's face. "Yeah right!" she uttered sarcastically.

* * *

The wait for Ash was over as he stood on the stadium grounds where his first battle of the Sinnoh League would be taking place. A smile on his face, his plans for the match were ready to be put into action. Everything set, he removed the Pokeball which contained the friend he would be using in the match.

On the other side of the stadium, his opponent Marianne had brown hair and wore a pink dress. She too readied her Pokeball.

The referee standing in the middle of field was about to start speaking until he was interrupted by Marianne.

"Hey Ash." she called to her adversary on the other side. "I want you to go out with me after I win against you." After declaring that, she blushed furiously.

Everyone watching in the stadium including the referee looked at Marianne in stupor. She just asked her opponent out before an important battle. Yea, they figured that she was mentally affected.

In the stands, a certain blue-haired girl raged. She stood up and was about to smack the girl that just asked her Ash out. What was that girl thinking? A girl like Dawn who'd been with Ash never went out with him and she, who only met him wanted to go on a date with him first. She wouldn't let that happen.

Without realizing it, Dawn was now calling the girl all sorts of names and Brock had to use force in order to restrain the girl.

"Calm down, Dawn!" he protested, hoping that she would listen. "Do you think that Ash even got what she meant?"

"That doesn't matter. How dare she say such a thing. Who does she think she is?"

Ash, oblivious to what Marianne meant gave her a look of confusion. "You want to go out with me? I can't promise you that since the Sinnoh League is on." A huge grin made its way to his face as he continued. "But either way, you would have to defeat me first."

The amused referee looked at Ash and then at Marianne. "Can we start the battle now?"

At the nodding of both the participants, the referee began the formality. "This Sinnoh League battle between Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town and Marianne from Sandgem Town will now begin. It will be a 1-on-1 battle with no substitutions. The first trainer whose Pokemon can't continue will be eliminated." Raising both the flags in his hands and then swinging them down at once, he declared. Begin!"

Ash and Marianne both threw their respective Pokeballs in the air. Snapping open, their Pokemon materialized. Surprisingly though, Ash didn't jump and throw the Pokeball like he usually did. Instead, he remained at the same place and just threw it normally, without doing anything else like he did before.

The Pokemon standing on Marianne's side of the field was a reptilian, bipedal Pokemon with membranous wings having sharply pointed ears and it's body was grey-coloured. The Pokemon appeared to have a fierce expression with intense eyes.

"Let's win, Aerodactyl!" Marianne exclaimed to her Rock-type Pokemon.

"Aeeeeee!" Aerodactyl roared, announcing its arrival.

On Ash's side was a spherical Pokemon, consisting of a black core covered by ice, which had several holes and spaces across its body. "Aerodactyl, start with Stone Edge!" Marianne commanded, rotating around in a majestic way.

"Glalie, Use Blizzard!" Ash calmly told his Hoenn ice-type Pokemon.

"Gla lie." The face Pokemon made a sound, acknowledging his trainer's order.

Around Aerodactyl's body materialized a huge amount of sharp and pointed stones, which were aimed at Glalie. Glalie opened his mouth and from all around his face-shaped body, cold and pointed snowballs were aimed at Aerodactyl.

The Blizzard attacked sent chills throughout the stadium, everyone covering themselves with their hands. When the two attacks met, it seemed as if they cancelled each other out.

"We're even!" Marianne announced before calling another attack. "Now get close and use Aerial Ace!"

Aerodactyl started flying at high speeds towards Glalie, surrounded by blue aura of Aerial Ace.

Ash smirked, eyes fixated on his Ice-type Pokemon. "Glalie, let's show them the results of our training. Dodge that and use Iron Head!"

As Ash told him, Glalie quite easily dodges Aerial Ace, surprising Marianne and also the spectators, who went "Oooh!" With head becoming iron hard, Glalie dashed through the air towards the immobile and unusually slow Aerodactyl and struck it, making a spanking sound. The force of the Iron Head attack sent Marianne's Aerodactyl flying into the ground as dust began to cover it.

Marianne watched the smoke in disbelief. "It's not possible. My Aerodactyl is super fast. It was moving too slow there."

"Yes, you're right. Your Aerodactyl is really fast. But look at its wings." He pointed at Aerodactyl's wings, which now became visible after the smoke clearing out. "When the Blizzard and Stone Edge crashed, the stones weren't able to completely take out the ice and then…"

"And then the remaining ice froze Aerodactyl's wings." Marianne completed, completely dumbfounded by the strategy Ash used. It was just perfect.

"I kinda borrowed this strategy from one of the Frontier Brains of the Kanto Battle Frontier. That's why I want to fight strong trainers as much as I can. Even if you lose, you'll always learn something." Ash elaborated for everyone.

With Ash's explanation, the crowd buzzed even louder, amazed by the young man's incredibly sound plan. Only Brock had seen this strategy before. The others were just taken aback by it.

As Aerodactyl struggled to get up and Marianne was still in a bombarded state, Ash decided to make the most of the opportunity he had. "Now Glalie, finish it with Ice Beam!"

"Glaeeeli!"

Glalie created a sphere of ice energy in his mouth and prepared to fire his Ice beam. With a target unmoving, Ash's Ice-type fired the beam of ice at Aerodactyl, who upon being struck, cried in pain.

"Aeroooooooooo!" It howled, its body's temperature getting lower by the second.

After taking the full brunt of the ice-type move, Aerodactyl couldn't battle anymore as swirls appeared in its eyes, signifying its defeat.

The referee observed the Fossil Pokemon for a few moments but as it showed no signs of movement, he announced Ash's victory. "Aerodactyl is unable to continue. The winner of this Preliminary match is Ash Ketchum from pallet Town."

With that declaration, the crowd cheered loudly for the two trainers. Even though the battle was one-sided, they were shown an exhibition of a master strategist at work.

In the stands, Dawn squealed loudly at Ash's victory. "You showed her, Ash!"

The pride Brock felt at the way Ash battled was indescribable. He had seen him grow, from an impulsive little 10 year old brat to a man who knew exactly what he was doing. Not only did he take Noland's strategy, he mixed his own flair to it; you could call Ash's win a perfect victory.

Both the trainers walked to the middle of the field and shook hands.

"You're quite strong, Marianne." Ash complimented his opponent who had given him a good fight.

The said girl looked at the hand that she shook with Ash and flushed lightly. "But you are totally awesome." She looked at Ash right in the eyes with disappointment apparent on her face. "I couldn't even go out with you!"

"Don't worry. We can hang out sometimes after I win the Sinnoh League. You are going to wait until the tournament ends, aren't you?"

Marianne completely misunderstood what Ash meant, turning red and giving Ash a quick peck on the cheek. "Of course!" she smiled.

* * *

After the battle ended, Ash met up with Dawn and Brock outside the stadium, both of them congratulating him on his victory. As they walked through the streets, Dawn appeared to be down, which didn't go unnoticed by Ash.

He gazed at her, who appeared to be in thought and kept a hand on her shoulder. "Hey Dawn!" he called lowly. "Is something the matter?"

"Pika?" The yellow rodent on Ash's shoulder too became aware of Dawn's mood.

As the coordinator from Twinleaf Town looked up at Ash, he could see that her eyes were almost teary, eyes which held sadness. "No Ash. It's just that…." She trailed off, unable to find the right manner to state the point he wanted to make. But then, she just asked him directly. "Are you going on a date with Marianne?"

Ash stared at Dawn in confusion. He didn't get what she meant. Go on a date? Did he even mention the word date when speaking to Marianne? The brunette didn't either. He came to the conlusion that Dawn had a misunderstanding. He only told Marianne that he would spend time with her and his friends when they weren't busy.

"Nope." He answered blandly. "Who told you so?"

The sadness on Dawn's features was replaced by surprise. Was that it? Did Ash only tell Marianne that they would be spending time with everyone and not alone? Dawn internally face-palmed. She was stupid to think that Ash would even understand what that girl had to say.

She quickly figured a way out to get out of the mess and answered. "Brock did!" She pointed at Brock, using him as a sacrificial pawn.

Brock glared daggers at Dawn, who just showed him her tongue. He was about to say something before he realized how happy Dawn was. So, he decided to clear it up for her. "I meant that what was the date that you told we would spend time with Marianne?"

Ash started to get an idea that Dawn and Brock were hiding something from him. But he paid no mind to it. The Sinnoh League had started and he didn't want such little things to cause a distraction to him.

"I don't even care about it! I am going to the Pokemon Center."

Brock gave Dawn a thumbs up, who giggled and said victory with her fingers.

* * *

The next day, Ash and company watched Barry's battle from the stands as his Hitmonlee went up against his opponent's Dragonair.

"Hitmonlee, use High Jump Kick" Barry pointed his finger at his opponent's injured Dragonair.

Jumping as high as it possibly could, Hitmonlee raised one of its legs, preparing to hit Dragonair with one of its signature move. As he descended, the Dragonair's trainer could only watch as the kicking Pokemon landed a brutal kick on his Dragon Pokemon. When Hitmonlee jumped back towards barry, the Dragonair laid unconscious with swirls in its eyes.

"No Dragonair!" The trainer yelled after watching his Pokemon get defeated.

The referee raised the red flag in Barry's direction. "Dragonair is unable to continue. The winner of this match is Barry, who will advance to the next round."

The trainer from Twinleaf jumped in joy and hugged his Fighting-type Pokemon for getting him the win. "We did it Hitmonlee!"

"Lee Hitmonlee!"

* * *

It was evening as Ash walked around on the Lily of the Valley island, taking in the sights of the beautiful town. After watching Barry's battles, Ash met up with Conway and Nando, who also won in their battles. Ash couldn't find Paul but he got the news of his victory from Barry. The Preliminary rounds would still take place the next day and the next round wouldn't be starting until another 2 days so he had at least 3 days before his next match.

After returning to the Pokemon Center, Ash decided to roam around alone, not even taking Pikachu with him. The only Pokemon he had were the ones clipped to his belt.

Standing near a shore, Ash took in the cool evening breeze of the sea which helped him clear his thoughts and get refreshed. It wasn't like he was tired but it did give him a lot of pleasure just standing there. Who doesn't like the sea breeze?

Being too into taking in nature, Ash didn't realize that someone had been standing next to him. The girl who stood beside him didn't even make an effort to get Ash's attention. Ash looked so calm, that no one would try to disturb him, at least no girl would.

As he opened his eyes, he saw a shadow and immediately turned to his right. Arms behind her back, Cynthia gazed at Ash, who met her gaze. "How long have you been standing there?" The boy questioned.

The blonde Champion giggled at Ash's oblivious look. "Not too long. You know, you look cute when you are confused." She complimented.

The young man scratched his cheek as he couldn't comprehend what she meant. He sat down, staying still and doing nothing; getting back to enjoying the fresh ocean breeze. Cynthia followed suite sitting next to him and doing the same thing he did. They stayed in that position for minutes, not moving even an inch until Cynthia asked him a question.

"Ash!" she turned to face him.

"Hmmm?" Opening his eyes, Ash too looked towards her.

"What do you plan on doing after the Sinnoh League?"

Ash looked at the sky in thought. He hadn't exactly decided yet what he would do after the League. Every time, he always journeyed a new region after the regional Pokemon League ended and he was sure that this time would be the same as well.

"I am not sure but I'll travel around another region. I heard about this region called Unova from professor Oak the other day." He said, laying back to the ground and using his hands as a pillow. "he told me that the there are Pokemon in Unova which can't be found anywhere else."

Cynthia came a little closer to Ash, laying down just like he did. "Yeah. It's a wonderful place." She moved even closer now resting her head on Ash's chest, startling the teen. "I have a vacation home there. Maybe we'll see each other there. I visit Unova quite often when I am not busy."

Seeing as Ash started to become a little uncomfortable of the position she put him in, she gazed at him right in the eyes again. "Do you mind if we stay like this for a while?"

Ash adjusted to how they were lying on the ground and eventually nodded. "Nope. Not at all."

After staying in the position for a while without even uttering a single word to each other, Ash looked at the black sky. He glanced at his watch on his left hand and couldn't believe his eyes. It was already 9 pm in the night. He came to the shore before 6 and he was pretty sure that Dawn, brock and Pikachu must've started to worry about him. He stared at Cynthia still on his chest. Observing her more closely, he realized that she had fallen asleep. He didn't want to wake her up. The sleeping face of Cynthia just looked too peaceful.

Cursing himself for doing this, Ash gently shook Cynthia's face a few times. "Hey Cynthia!" he tried to wake her up. "It's 9'oclock already. We better get going."

Ash's effort finally got him the desired result when Cynthia's eyes slowly started to open. Her beautiful grey pearls glanced at him and her lips twitched ever so slightly into a smile. He would be able to look at her all day but it was time to go.

"Cynthia, it's 9. Let's leave."

"Alright!" she said, a small blush began to creep up to her features. "But you know, it would've been nice if we could've stayed like that all night!"

Cynthia reluctantly got up from her new favourite resting place and wiped her eyes, yawning and stretching her arms wide. Ash stood up, dusted his clothes and offered his hand to Cynthia, who happily took it. As the teen attempted to pull her up, he didn't realize that his strength had increased a lot due to working out with his Pokemon and due to that, Cynthia was now in his arms, tugging tightly onto his body.

The close proximity between the two made both of their cheeks to get a crimson coloured hue. The position was perfect, perfect for kissing that is. Slowly, Cynthia began to close the distance between their lips; their mouths getting ever so closer to each other. Surprisingly, even Ash's face instinctively started to inch closer to her. The distance between them lessened and their lips lightly brushed against each other. But before they could move any further, a Pokemon approached them.

"Pika Pika Pikachu!" Ash's starter ran towards the two, unaware that he'd probably destroyed the best moment of his trainer's life.

As soon as they heard Pikachu, Ash and Cynthia stood up straight, their kiss remaining incomplete. And thank God that they did because running behind Pikachu were Brock and Dawn with Piplup. They all spotted Ash and Cynthia and walked to their direction.

"That just didn't happen." Ash whispered so only Cynthia could hear.

The Champion smiled, an almost devilish smile that. "What do you mean? We just kis-" She was made to stop by Ash who covered her mouth forcefully, just in time for neither Brock nor Dawn to hear anything.

"Ash!" Dawn screamed, running towards him as fast as she could. Spotting Cynthia nearby, she smelt something fishy. Even the way they were standing right now didn't seem right to her. Why in the world was Ash covering Cynthia's mouth?

"Hey guys!" Ash waved to his friends, trying to act as normal as possible, which was turning out to be quite difficult. Cynthia finally managed to get Ash's hand off her mouth, lying that she couldn't breathe.

"We searched for you everywhere." Brock breathed out.

Dawn forced a smile onto her face. "And why are you with the Champion?"

The bombardment of questions froze Ash. He feared that they might have seen what happened between them. It's not like he did it on purpose, it just happened. It was done at the spur of the moment. Even though they didn't actually kiss, their lips still touched and if someone would've seen then at that moment, it would have become the headlines for the next day's newspaper.

The women standing next to Ash grasped that Ash wasn't in the best condition to answer their question. So she chose to answer them for him. She damned these guys for interrupting at such a great moment but she understood that this was not the time. She needed to save Ash's skin right now. Besides, she could talk to him about this tomorrow and maybe even complete the thing that remained half-done.

She smiled and spoke. "I was just passing by here when I met Ash. He wanted to know about more about my Garchomp but I guess we took too long."

"It's just that he didn't even tell us where he was going so we started to get a bit worried about him." Brock simpered, pleased with the fact that they found Ash without having to search for him too long.

Just then, a growling noise came from Ash's stomach. "I haven't eaten anything since lunch so I guess I am hungry." He rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

Everyone laughed whole-heartedly and even Dawn forgot about the things she was thinking just a moment ago.

* * *

The morning of the last day of the Preliminary rounds went quietly as there was no one known by our heroes who would be participating today. One of the rare instances that they woke up late, Ash along with Dawn, Brock and Pikachu all comfortably sat in the cafeteria of the Pokemon Center, having their breakfast.

Suddenly, someone came running in towards them at a fast pace. Almost able to guess who it might be, they glanced at the direction of the noise and Barry, as expected rushed towards them. But something seemed off about him. His face held a mixture of fright, panic and anxiety. Stopping just before crashing into the group, Barry panted heavily. He appeared to have been terrified by something; something that would send shivers to the bravest of men.

"Hey guys," Barry glared at them, eyes almost popping out. "There's a trainer in the Sinnoh League who fought using a Darkrai.!"

* * *

**How was the chapter? I wasn't in the mood to type fast so I just took my time with one. About 4-5 hours of typing. Of course, I was doing other things in between as well but it still took so much of my precious time so I hope you weren't too disappointed with it.**

**I could very well have started Ash's Top 64 battle in this chapter but then I decided not to rush too much. I have an exam on Thursday so wish me luck and pray for me!**


	4. Darkrai Revealed

_**Darkrai Revealed**_

* * *

**I am sorry for being a day late than I told you guys in the last chapter of Adventures of the Master. I originally planned to upload this yesterday but I couldn't finish it since I was bored so I wrote while also watching TV, which mind you is a huge distraction and I only managed to write 2.5 k of this and 2.5 k words for my High School DxD fic, even thought I wrote for hours.**

**Some people are confused about the shipping. So I would like to clear it out that this will be a multi-shipping story. But I haven't thought too much about it since the Sinnoh League has already started. Shippings will be more defined after the League ends. There will be subtle hints like in the last couple of chapters, though.**

**I won't keep you guys waiting any longer with this stupid author's note. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

The moment Barry mentioned a Darkrai fighting in a battle, Ash, Dawn and Brock gasped in disbelief. They turned to Barry with eyes agape, unwilling to believe what he had just told them.

Ash staggered shakily as he gaped at Barry with wide open eyes, an expression of shock evident on his face. He just couldn't come to believe that there could be another Darkrai in the Sinnoh League. He knew the fact that there were incidences of a Legendary Pokémon being more than one. He'd seen some examples with his own eyes; the Lugia and its baby that he'd met while travelling in the Whirl Islands, but for there to be another Darkrai here, he was astounded, to say the least.

Completely dumbfounded, Ash's two friends, who were perched on their seats, also abruptly stood up. They glanced at Barry. It didn't seem as if he was lying. His eyes bore fright; he definitely couldn't have made that up. Then, they glanced at Ash who appeared to have taken the news as a shock worse than they had.

Ash got out of his daze, speaking for the first time after the revelation of the Darkrai. "Barry, are you sure what you're saying is truth?" he asked, still not fully recovered from the bomb that Barry threw at him. "I mean, Darkrai is a Legendary Pokémon."

As Barry stood straight up, he sprawled closer to Ash, menacingly glaring at him. "I just saw a fuckin' Darkrai," he squawked, "and it took down its opponent in just one hit. It was the fastest match ever." The blond boy from Twinleaf town stamped his foot in front of Ash in anger, angry that they wouldn't believe what he said.

Ash and his friends still couldn't completely believe Barry's words, but the amazing thunderbolt that he'd given them still had them stuck in shock. Brock and Dawn both shakily stood up, at last getting back to their senses.

Still trembling in shock, Brock finally got something out of his mouth. "How strong was the Darkrai?" he asked Barry, a serious expression plastered on his face.

Barry turned his face towards Brock and looked at him, eyes still containing fear of the Darkrai he'd just mentioned. "It took out a Blaziken with just two attacks named Dark Void and Dream Eater!" he yelled, spreading his arms to show just how awesome the Darkrai was.

"With just two attacks?" Dawn pondered in amazement, staring at the ceiling of the Pokémon Center. Piplup who was standing next to her folded his arms and narrowed his eyes to show that even he was thinking.

"We're bringing you some breaking news from Lily of the Valley Island!"

Everyone turned their gazes to the source of the sound which was the television. A completely stunned news reporter was speaking about a piece of news from the Sinnoh League. The screen now turned to a battlefield, two men standing opposite each other, seemingly ready to start their battle. They both released their Pokémon and that was when the shocker came; everyone in the Pokémon Center gasping in astonishment, their eyes glued to the huge LCD screen.

The Pokémon materializing on one of the Trainers' sides was the Legendary nightmare Pokémon, Darkrai. The Trainer of the Darkrai appeared to be a man in his early twenties with wavy jet black hair. His opponent was surprised, too. A Darkrai in the Preliminaries was the last Pokémon he would've expected to face.

As the video continued, both the Trainers apparently gave their commands to the Pokémon, one Trainer obviously appearing calmer than the other. The Pokémon moved as a dark black ball of energy generated between both of the dark hands of Darkrai. The Blaziken's arm glowed with energy and it jumped high up in the air at a decent speed.

With the ball still in-between its hands, the Dark-type kept its eyes glued on Blaziken and, as it neared with its Sky Uppercut, Darkrai threw the black ball at it, enveloping the Fire-type from Hoenn in it. The effect of the move used by Darkrai was so great that Blaziken fell to the ground, seemingly deep in sleep. Although, soon enough, it cried in pain, making everyone watching gasp in amazement of the power of the Legendary Pokémon.

"That's Dark Void!" Ash could only utter as he watched the Darkrai send a shockwave at great speed at the Blaziken. As the shockwave passed the Blaziken, it groaned in agony and, soon enough, it fell to the ground, but this time, swirls covered its eyes, signifying its defeat to Darkrai.

The video of the battle was cut off and the reporter, again, began his report of the situation, everyone's attention in the Pokémon Center on him.

"That was just confirmation of the sudden appearance of this mysterious Trainer named Tobias who, without any problems, destroyed his opponent in the Preliminary Round of the Sinnoh League taking place in Lily of the Valley Island. There have been rumours going around that he defeated all the Gym Leaders of Sinnoh only using his Darkrai." The shock on his face turned to horror when he read further from the sheet of paper in his hand. "That's not all. He did in so in less than a month. He travelled all around Sinnoh beating Gym Leaders in a timespan of under a month. You can only guess what other amazing Pokémon this guy possesses. Comments are flying from all over the world. Even the Champions and Elite Four are taking interest in the matter."

As the man on the TV finished his report on the Darkrai in the Sinnoh League, Barry turned to our now-shocked trio of heroes who now knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that there indeed was another Darkrai in the tournament.

"See!" he yelled. "I wasn't lying. There is a Trainer with a Darkrai." He brushed his hair with his hand, trying his best to calm himself. "We can't beat that guy! None of us can."

Ash stumbled back, taking a deep breath after relaxing himself on the comfortable sofa. Just when he thought that he had the upper hand in a Pokémon League, there was another guy who could be even stronger than he was. Ash placed both his hands on his thighs to get a hold of himself.

Pikachu looked at his stressed Trainer who seemed to have finally gotten back his composure. He jumped up on the sofa and perched himself on Ash's lap. Cocking his head upwards to face him, Pikachu looked at the hollow eyes that Ash had; only one emotion showed in his eyes and it was that of shock.

"Pika!" Pikachu whispered to his Trainer.

The voice of Pikachu seemed to have worked since Ash finally got a hold of himself, exhaling a long breath to calm himself down. "Don't worry Pikachu. I'm fine," he told his Pokémon with a gentle smile, making his starter jump on his shoulder and nuzzle his cheek.

"So, Ash, what are you gonna do?" Brock asked Ash seriously.

With no hesitation or fear, Ash replied to Brock straight away. "There's only one thing I could do. I have to defeat him whenever I face him. Just because he has a Legendary Pokémon doesn't make him undefeatable."

Brock grinned at his friend's courage and self-confidence. Ash took the news of the Darkrai better than he thought he would. "Of course!"

Dawn, too, smiled at the calm face of Ash. The look of surprise that once existed on his face had now disappeared without a trace. "I am sure you can, Ash. After all, you have your own secret weapon." She winked, already imagining the battle between two Darkrai. She cutely placed a finger on her chin, wondering which Darkrai was stronger.

Barry, who listened to what Dawn had said, opened his mouth. "What secret weapon?" he asked, closing in on Ash and bending down with both his hands on his hips. "Tell me what your secret weapon is or else I'll fine you," he demanded in his usual style.

Dawn, Ash and Brock gave him a smile but didn't speak a work. Barry impatiently waited for an answer until he finally lost his patience, snapping at Ash. "Tell me what it is. I want to know about it too." Getting no answer again, he slumped onto his knees and began to sob. "YOU GUYS ARE MEAN!"

They still said nothing to the Trainer from Twinleaf Town, just snickering at his impatience and curiosity. Without even knowing about it, the tension that was created due to the revelation of another Darkrai now disappeared thanks to the Ash's newly-found composure and the amusing antics of Barry.

* * *

The three days allotted for the Preliminaries of the Sinnoh League had now passed. All the scheduled battles were done with, too. After intense battles between 119 Trainers, only the best 64 now remained in the League, one of which would be crowned as the Champion of the Sinnoh League. The match-ups for the next round were about to be revealed as the sun began to set.

All the remaining Trainers waited for the revelation of their opponents for the next round in the main stadium of the Sinnoh League.

Ash searched for Tobias, the Trainer with the Darkrai, in the crowd of Trainers until he saw Paul, standing in a state like he always did. He deduced that Paul hadn't changed half as much as he had in the past few months, and then, finally, his eyes stopped on the man wearing a dark robe; it was Tobias, standing proud and relaxed near one of the walls. Many people eyed him, but none had the courage to approach him. Tobias and Darkrai were all over the news after his battle earlier in the day; the news spread fast as people from all over the world and even from the Elite Four spoke about him and what they thought of his battle.

"Now, the match-ups for the next round will be announced."

With the voice of the MC, the images of all the remaining 64 Trainers began to shuffle around on the huge TV screen. At last, after shuffling the Trainers enough, the images finally came to a standstill as the match-ups for the next round now appeared on the screen.

Each of the Trainers standing on the field curiously searched for their match-ups, their eyes glued on the screen of the stadium. As Ash finally found out who he was matched up against, he smirked with a tinge of excitement crossing his features. He looked forward to this battle; a match against a Trainer he'd known for quite a while, now.

Just as Ash was about to leave, someone called to him, stopping him. He turned around to find none other than Nando waving at him. Ash, too, smiled at his friend that he met quite early in his time in the Sinnoh region.

"Hi, Nando," he greeted the minstrel. "So, who are you matched up against in the second round?" he asked the man wearing his usual green attire.

"Greetings, my friend! My opponent for the next round is a beautiful woman named Caroline. What about you?" Nando played his harp and closed his eyes, enjoying his music to the utmost.

Ash tittered at Nando playing his harp once again, the soothing melody bringing him calmness, as well. "Well…" he started, "my opponent is our dear friend Conway over there." The Trainer pointed to the guy sneaking up behind Nando.

After Ash noticed him, Conway knew that there was no reason to peek on their conversation. He adjusted his glasses and presented himself in front of his two rivals in the Sinnoh League. "Hello, Ash! I hope you are ready to have an early exit from the tournament." He declared his victory with a creepy grin. "I hope you won't take it personally when I beat you."

Ash could never get used to this guy. The smile Conway wore always creeped him out and this time was no exception as Ash's lips twitched as well. "Don't worry, Conway. I won't mind if you beat me in our match. That is, if you're strong enough to beat me in the first place."

Conway didn't appear to be too pleased with Ash's statement, but he took it as a challenge, nonetheless. To him, Ash was a rival whom he had to beat, not just for the sake of progressing in the Sinnoh League, but also for Dawn to notice him. Well, she did notice him, but he wasn't pleased with the way she conversed with him. It was like she tried to avoid him as much as possible, and for that reason, he had to beat Ash and annihilate him in front of Dawn.

"We'll see about that in two days, now, won't we?" Conway chuckled sinisterly again, his glasses shining, suggesting that he was all pumped up. "See you later. I have to select one of the strategies I prepared to use against you."

Just like that, the green-haired Trainer left Ash and Nando, disappearing from their sight in mere seconds. Both Ash and Nando sweatdropped at the guy. Just how much creepier could he get? Still, they saw him as their friend and they were positive that he felt the same about them.

"So, Ash, I guess I need to get going and decide on a strategy as well. You sure have a tricky opponent to take down. I wish you the best of luck for your battle."

"Good luck to you, as well!"

* * *

The sun rose upon Ash who stood on a clear field on Lily of the Valley Island. Prior to the sunrise, Ash had worked out, performing several sets of push ups and crunches to keep his body in shape. He never thought that he would be doing this stuff, but he was happy that he did. He, too, realized how much this had helped him both physically and mentally. 'The power of hard work' was what he liked to refer to such harsh training.

With sweat running across his body, Ash relaxed himself on the ground, taking a huge breath in order to calm his mind again. He glanced at the Poké Ball that he held in his hand and smiled a smile which held pride. Staying in the same position, the amber-eyed boy snapped the Poké Ball in his hand open and out came his very first Legendary capture.

The Pitch-Black Pokémon floated right in front of Ash, slowly opening his eyes. He may be a Legendary Pokémon, but even he needed sleep. Fully awake, he majestically bowed his white head towards Ash, greeting his Trainer with respect.

Ash raised an eyebrow at the gesture. "Geez, Darkrai," he complained. "I told you not to do that. You don't have to be so formal with me. We've already known each other for almost three months, now."

Darkrai waited for Ash's complete speech to be over before he spoke. "Yes. I know that," he told him. "But I at least have to give you a proper greeting. I mean, you are my Trainer, after all," he protested.

Ash placed a hand on his forehead after failing in another one of his attempts to convince his Dark-type to behave normally with him. Even Heatran, whom he caught after Darkrai, acted casually in front of him, even tackling him when overjoyed, but Darkrai seemed to be from an altogether different breed of Pokémon, his stubbornness even rivalling that of Ash's from his early days as a Trainer.

"Anyway, there was a reason that I asked to bring you back from Professor Oak's lab." Ash's expression got serious as he continued. "There's a Trainer with a Darkrai in the Sinnoh League."

Darkrai didn't move and he didn't appear to be shocked in the least. "Yeah. I know. I heard it in the news when I was at that old professor's lab," he informed his Trainer.

Ash nodded, now understanding why Darkrai appeared to be unmoved by the shocking revelation that he'd just made. "Do you know if you can beat it?"

"I don't know," Darkrai said truthfully. He couldn't tell if he could beat a Pokémon which he hadn't exchanged his attacks with. He at least needed to confront it to get a rough idea of what the Pokémon might bring to the game. He glanced at the rising sun and continued. "But, I can beat any Pokémon as long as you have faith in me. If you trust me, there is no challenge that I can't overcome, Ash."

"Do you think I believe in you?" Ash's eyes were full of curiosity, wanting an answer from the Legendary Pokémon, Darkrai.

Darkrai met Ash's gaze and, after looking into his eyes for a few seconds, he responded. "I don't know whether you believe in me or not, but I trust you completely, so there is no order—no command of yours—that I won't obey."

Ash smiled gleefully at Darkrai. He felt really happy that even a Pokémon like Darkrai who doesn't trust humans told him so. "So, I guess we can't lose."

* * *

Ash returned to his room after his conversation with Darkrai and the first thing he did was have a shower. He didn't want others to know how he smelled after training and that was the best thing to do to avoid that from happening.

The morning was pleasant and warm as Ash and the group had their breakfast in one of the well-known restaurants on Lily of the Valley Island. It was, of course, Dawn's plan to come here since she was the one who kept notes of such restaurants and shops. All of them appeared to be eating their meals happily, chatting about various things as well.

"Have you finally decided which Pokémon you're going to use against Conway?" Brock asked while sipping his tea, the taste of which was probably was of the best that he had ever drank.

Ash shook his head while stuffing his face with food and gulping all of it in an instant. "I have chosen two Pokémon that I'll be using, but I can't decide on my third one." He sipped some water from his glass and continued. "Since Conway is such an unpredictable Trainer, I have to have a lot of versatility in my team. I could use someone like Charizard or Sceptile, but I don't want to reveal them to everyone just yet."

Dawn nodded. "Having so many Pokémon to choose from must be difficult. That reminds me, Ash. You still haven't shown me all of your Pokémon." She took the last bite of her food and leaned back on her chair comfortably. "But that Conway guy sure is a headache. I'll tell you, be careful of him," she warned as her expression turned into a serious one. "Who knows what that guy might do to win?"

"Don't worry, Dawn. I won't do anything unfair to beat Ash."

The voice creeped Dawn out, and rightly so. It was horrifying. She shakily stood up from her seat, glanced behind her and, as expected, Conway stood right behind her, his glasses shining brightly.

Dawn's eyebrows twitched, her lips forming a smile. "Uhh… Hi, Conway." She increased the distance between herself and Conway and spoke. "I was just warning Ash that he shouldn't take you lightly since you're an amazing Trainer."

"Thank you for your kind words, Dawn. My heartbeat increases when I hear you say something like that about me." Conway grinned, making Dawn step back ever further.

Ash smiled at Conway. "Good morning, Conway. I assume you're already prepared for our match," he stated, looking at his Top 64 opponent.

"Of course," he confirmed, nodding his head and turning to glance at Dawn. "It's a very important battle for me."

"It's an important match for me, as well," Ash said with a smile of defiance.

Conway and Ash glared at each other with grins on their faces. Without them even speaking a word, the tension between them increased tenfold. Their eyes didn't hold contempt for each other; rather, their eyes were full of determination . They would be battling it out in the Sinnoh League Top 64, not to see who was a better Trainer. Without a shadow of a doubt, one of the two was light years ahead of the other in terms of being a better Trainer, but they wanted to find out who was more intelligent; whose strategy would triumph.

* * *

Ash pressed a few keys on the laptop on his lap and, soon enough, Conway's Trainer page appeared on the screen, showing all the information about the Pokémon he'd used in official battles. Ash still hadn't decided on the third Pokémon for his battles against the guy, and that was the reason hat he was doing his research—something unexpected from him.

After going through all the information given on the page, Ash shut down the laptop and placed it on the table. He sighed and tried to think of a strategy. He knew that he could easily crush Conway if he used one of his aces, but he didn't want to do that. The reason behind that was not only that he wanted to save them for later, but he also wanted to test the strength of his Pokémon which were not at the level of the others. He very well knew that they had the potential, but the Pokémon whom he'd trained more and had more experience with would of course be stronger than the others.

As Ash thought about all of that, he didn't realize that Dawn had taken a seat next to him. She gazed at Ash's face and smiled. "You really look cute when you think about something."

Ash was stunned to see Dawn sitting beside him. He didn't even notice her enter the room. "Did you say something, Dawn?" he scratched his head.

Dawn giggled at the antics of her crush and placed her palm on top of his which rested on the bed. She leaned closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder, a blush appearing on her features. She closed her eyes and spoke again. "I didn't say anything. You must be hearing things."

Ash just cocked his head in confusion without having the slightest clue about what she meant, but after he realized how close Dawn was to him, even his face flushed a little. It wasn't like they hadn't been in such close proximity before, but the thing that made this moment different was that they were all alone in the room. Not even Pikachu or Piplup were with them.

Ash decided not to think much about it and just relax for the time being. He moved his hand around Dawn's shoulder, clutching onto her and making the girl grin in joy.

* * *

The next day, Ash decided to train a little having decided on his team for the next round. He now stood in a barren field away near the Pokémon Center along with the six Pokémon that he had with him right then. Dawn and Brock, too, watched Ash train his Pokémon.

The six Pokémon that had been training were Pikachu, Infernape, Swellow, Staraptor, and his two newly evolved Pokémon, Croconaw and Gabite. Gible and Totodile apparently evolved in the two months where Ash trained in solitude and the results showed because all of his Pokémon's speed and power had substantially increased.

"Croconaw, use Ice Beam at full power on Gabite," Ash ordered his Water-type starter from the Johto region. At the next moment, Ash looked at Gabite and said, "Gabite, counter it with your Dragon Claw."

As commanded, Croconaw charged a sphere of ice in his mouth and then aimed it at Gabite in the form of a beam made completely of ice. As the Ice Beam neared its target, Gabite's claw glowed bluish with dragonic energy and he tried to confront the Ice Beam head on. His glowing claw clashed with the beam of ice and, after struggling for a few moments, Gabite cut the beam in half, diverting its direction to either side of him.

After the display of even overcoming his biggest weakness, Ash smiled with pride at his Pokémon. "That was great, Gabite. You finally managed to diverge Croconaw's fully-powered Ice Beam."

"Gab-bitte!" The Dragon-type roared, acknowledging the compliment from his Trainer.

"Those moves were pretty strong, Ash," Brock stepped forward and said, glancing around the field where Ash's Pokémon trained with all their might. "You've really gotten stronger in those two months of training. Even I didn't expect your Pokémon's strength to increase this much."

Ash rubbed his nose at the praise from Brock. "They all did the hard work. It's paying off."

Building up courage inside herself, Dawn came up next to Ash and lightly held his hand. "No, it's not just their hard work." Ash turned to face her surprised, by what she had said. "You also spent all of your time with them and you were the reason why they trained so hard to get there," she explained. "Even your Pokémon agree."

Ash gazed at Dawn with a look of stupor on his face. She really was a kind girl. Ash didn't even realize that all of his Pokémon had gathered around him and nodded their heads, roaring at their Trainer's modesty. Ash glanced at each one of them as his eyes began to get a little teary. But, even then, he held his emotions in, not wanting to show them in front of all his Pokémon and friends.

"You guys are really wonderful. I'm really lucky to have friends like you with me." Ash thanked them for their effort, a smile of determination on gluing itself on his face.

"So, training, are we?"

They all turned around to the familiar voice and saw the Champion along with Mr Goodshow approaching them. Cynthia strolled as elegantly as ever while the Pokémon League President ran a hand through his white beard as he walked.

"Cynthia and Mr Goodshow," Ash called their names.

Both of them waved at Ash, stopping near the group.

"Hello, Ash," the short man greeted the young Pokémon Trainer. "It appears as if your preparations are going well." He gave a glance at each one of the finely raised Pokémon of Ash's and nodded to himself with a grin. "You've raised some amazing Pokémon, Ash. I can tell just by looking at them how many hard yards you've put in training them."

Cynthia's eyes were fixed on Ash's Gabite the entire time. "So, your Gible has evolved?!"

Ash nodded. "Yes, Cynthia. My Gible has evolved." He petted his only Dragon-type on the head who gave a cry of joy. "But hear this. He wants to get stronger than your Garchomp, and someday, he will be."

Cynthia raised an eyebrow in amusement. "That's a great goal, Gabite." She smirked and continued. "But, it won't be that easy to defeat my Garchomp. We are getting stronger all the time, as well. After all, it's just been a little more than two years since I became the Champion of Sinnoh and I don't intend to lose that title anytime soon."

Ash raised his fist towards Cynthia and smiled at her. "I would have been disappointed if the Champion of Sinnoh would've been easy to beat."

Interrupting the conversation between the two determined Trainers, Mr Charles Goodshow cleared his throat. "Ash, there's something I want to talk to you about," he said, getting the attention of Ash as well as the others.

"Sure. What is it?" Ash asked.

"Professor Oak has told me about something and I am curious about that, so do you mind having a discussion with me about it?" Goodshow requested of the trainer.

It didn't take Ash long to grasp what the white-bearded man was talking about, but he wondered why Professor Oak would reveal his secret to someone. He shrugged it off since this was the Pokémon League President. It wouldn't be a big deal to reveal his secret to him.

But then, he looked at Cynthia who seemed curious, too. "Does Cynthia know about it?" he asked the old man.

Mr Goodshow immediately shook his head and replied. "No. Professor Oak told me that you didn't want anyone to know about it, so no one else knows. It's just a secret between us."

Ash exhaled a deep breath and gave Mr Goodshow a smile. "Alright, then. I can show it to you." He then spoke with a sarcastic tinge in his tone. "But, Cynthia can't see it."

The President of the Pokémon League immediately nodded. "Yes, of course. It's just the two of us," he tittered and made a V with his fingers.

But the Champion of Sinnoh didn't appear to be too pleased with Ash's words. She glared daggers at Ash and questioned him. "You don't trust me to keep your secret, Ash?" Disappointment was evident in her eyes as well as her voice. "I thought you would have more faith in me."

Ash was amused by the response he got from Cynthia and so was Goodshow. They had never seen Cynthia act like this. For a Champion who held so much pride to act like a girl in her teens was unusual. From what they understood of her, she always behaved like a mature person, her wisdom being much greater than her age.

"It's not like that, Cynthia. You have a misunderstanding," Ash told the blonde woman whose head seemed to have fallen in dismay. He took a step forward and placed a hand on the dejected girl's shoulder. "It's just that I feel that you will be more amazed if I don't show it to you just yet."

She slowly looked at Ash and nodded, still not fully convinced, though.

Mr Goodshow chuckled at the interactions between Ash and Cynthia. He didn't know that those two were this close. "Alright, Ash. Do you mind showing it to me right now?"

"Sure. We just need to visit the Pokémon Center first as I don't have it with me right now," Ash informed Charles Goodshow who nodded in understanding.

* * *

After talking to Professor Oak and having his Darkrai transferred to him, Ash, along with Mr Goodshow, strolled out of the town to a place where there wouldn't be people noticing them. Cynthia stayed behind with Brock and Dawn after Ash promised her something which she appeared to be excited about.

Ash took a deep breath before releasing the Poké Ball from his hand. "Come on out, Darkrai!" The Poké Ball opened in the air and the pitch black body of Darkrai materialised.

Mr Goodshow took a few steps backwards as shiver went down his spine at the sight of the legendary Dark-type known to cause nightmares. He was amazed, but the emotion of fright ran much deeper than his amazement. As Darkrai glared at him, he felt the fear like he'd never felt before, his eyes full of terror. The President of the Pokémon League now understood what it meant to be in the dark presence of Darkrai and what it could do to a person up close.

"This is my Darkrai, Mr Goodshow. It's a kind Pokémon to humans, so you don't have to be scared," Ash stated before spinning his head towards Darkrai. "Darkrai, meet Mr Charles Goodshow. He's the President of all of the regional Pokémon Leagues taking place all over the world."

Darkrai bowed his head towards the man with the white beard and spoke. "Greetings Mr Goodshow. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Mr Charles Goodshow appeared to be stunned by the well-mannered Darkrai. Not only that, but it could also use telepathy. Goodshow finally pulled himself together and gathered the courage to speak, albeit still astonished by the Pokémon floating in front of him. "The pleasure i-is all m-mine, Darkrai." He managed to let out those words at last.

"So, Mr Goodshow, what do you think?" Ash asked the head of the League anxiously.

Mr Goodshow immediately titled his head at Ash, not wanting to be glared by Darkrai anymore. "I am falling short of words to describe what I feel, Ash. It's an amazing Pokémon, worthy of being given the title Legendary. You will be using it in the tournament, aren't you?"

Darkrai didn't give any kind of response to Mr Goodshow's praise while Ash rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Yes. I will be using Darkrai in the tournament, but I don't want to use him until much later," he told Goodshow before his face turned serious, eyes filled with resolve. "But, if I have to face Tobias, I will definitely be using Darkrai."

The old man nodded at Ash's explanation. "I understand." He looked at Darkrai who still had the same look, making Goodshow turn to Ash frantically once again. "Th-that's all, Ash. I appreciate you showing it to me. I wish you the best of luck in the tournament." His expression turned into one of amusement as he continued. "By the way, Ash, what have you done to Cynthia to make her act that awkwardly? I have never seen the Champion show so much emotion at one time."

Ash cocked his head a little, looking at Goodshow while putting a hand on his chin. "Now that you mention it, she was acting strangely the other day as well."

Goodshow chuckled, getting a rough idea of what Cynthia might be going through. He'd known Cynthia for quite some time now because of his good relations with her grandmother, but the way she behaved earlier was something completely new to him, as well. He would be having a great time chatting with Carolina about her granddaughter's first.

"Ahh… I see," he grinned. "She's a great girl, Ash. You won't find someone like her even if you searched the heavens."

"Yeah. I know. She's the Champion of Sinnoh, after all." Ash nodded repeatedly, completely agreeing with what Goodshow said. Cynthia was a great woman whose support would be wanted by anyone.

"I have a meeting to attend, so I'll take my leave," Goodshow told Ash with a smile. "Thank you again for taking the time to show me your Darkrai."

* * *

The first match of the second round of the Lily of the Valley Conference was about to begin; everyone cheering from the stands as the two Trainers walked to their spots and awaited the referee's signal. In the stands, Ash, Brock, Dawn and Barry along with Pikachu and Piplup waited for Paul's second round battle to begin. Ash, whose match was on the next day, intently watched as Paul and his opponent, a middle-aged man, removed their Poké Balls.

"This match between Rob from Sunnyshore City and Paul from Veilstone City will now begin." The referee raised the flags in his hands in the air and continued. "It will be a 3-on-3 battle. Both Trainers can substitute Pokémon and the battle will end when all 3 of either Trainers' Pokémon are unable to battle." He brought the flags down in one instant and yelled, "Begin the match!"

On the signal of the referee, both Paul and his opponent released their Poké Balls. On Paul's side stood his Ursaring, while on his opponent's side, a Girafarig materialized. Once their Trainers gave them orders, the Pokémon began the battle, Ursaring starting off with its Hammer Arm attack which the Girafarig countered with Double Kick, but was quickly overpowered by Ursaring. As the battle continued, Girafarig showed some of its moves like Psychic, causing damage to Ursaring as well, but in the end, Paul's Ursaring proved out to be too powerful for Girafarig to handle.

As Rob's recalled his second Pokémon back in his Poké Ball, Paul, too, recalled his Ursaring. Both Trainers revealed their next Pokémon to be Magmortar and Swampert.

"Man! Isn't Paul awesome?" Barry clenched his fists in admiration for Paul. "I would never expect anything less from a guy who is worthy enough to be called my rival."

Ash chuckled at Barry's delight at Paul's victory and spoke. "Well, he's an excellent Trainer who raises his Pokémon only for battle. I might have to face him soon, but this time, it'll be different."

Dawn and Brock smiled warmly at Ash's determination. He'd never defeated Paul in a battle until now, but they were positive that he would now. Even without his training, for the couple of months that he did, his training throughout Sinnoh was good enough to give Paul a run for his money. Also, Ash had been using only the Pokémon caught in Sinnoh until now, but here, he would be using all the Pokémon he had. At least, that was what Brock thought.

The battle between Swampert and Magmortar raged and, in the end, both of the Pokémon fell to each other, the match ending in a tie. As Rob's three Pokémon had been defeated, Paul was declared the winner and, as usual, he left the stadium after telling Rob how pathetic he was.

* * *

"That Paul doesn't change," Dawn yelled in anger, walking while stamping her feet on the ground. Her anger was understandable; Paul, again, disrespected his opponent, having no idea how they might feel.

Ash, walking beside her, tried to calm her down. "Ignore him." That was the only thing he said while taking a bite of the chocolate pastry he ate.

"Well, it is one trait of his that I hate. He has no respect for others if they can't match up to his strength," Brock agreed.

* * *

Barry also won his match that was scheduled for the first day of the second round. Now, the second day of the Top 64 round commenced with Ash sitting in the Trainer rooms inside the stadium, waiting for his name to be called.

Ash's battle with Conway was scheduled to begin at 11:00 AM in one of the stadiums and Ash was excited, to say the least. He hadn't seen Conway since the green-haired boy creeped them out in the restaurant. Ash was all set to battle Conway which would be starting in just a few minutes. He'd left Pikachu in care of Dawn and Brock who would be cheering for him from the stands.

The black-haired Trainer's wait finally ended as his name was announced through the speaker situated in the room. He smiled to himself—a smile full of determination and confidence. With each passing battle, he came one step closer to winning the Sinnoh League and his ultimate dream of becoming a Pokémon Master.

The two trainers who'd be battling entered the stadium, both having a determined expression on their faces. As Ash eyed Conway, he kept a finger on his glasses which shone before greeting Ash with a grin.

With no delays whatsoever, the MC began his explanation of the battle. "The Trainers who will battle in the grass battlefield are Ash and Conway. This will be a 3-on-3 battle .Trainers can substitute Pokémon freely. The match will be over when all 3 of either Trainer's Pokémon are unable to continue battling. So, who will win this match? We will use Coin Toss to determine who gets the first move. So, it's time to reveal your Pokémon."

"Ash, I am sorry, but your Sinnoh League journey will end with this battle," Conway declared, smirking at his opponent.

Ash shot back calmly with no rage whatsoever at the declaration of Conway's. "Don't worry, Conway. You'll remember this battle for a long time."

After their initial taunts, both the participants threw their Poké Balls onto the field. As the Balls opened, both boys' Pokémon called out their names, announcing their arrival on the field.

"Swellow!" Ash's Flying-type from Hoenn shouted, flying up into the air majestically. She showed her full speed as she took to the air and flapped her wings to show that, not only she was fast, but also powerful.

"Forre-tress!" The Pokémon on Conway's side yelled its name and took its position.

The referee raised both of his flags and announced, "Conway gets the first move. Begin!"

Conway extended one of his arms while adjusting his glasses with the other. "Forretress, let's make it interesting for Ash. Use Stealth Rock," he told his Steel and Bug-type Pokémon.

As commanded, Forretress prepared to use Stealth Rock as it body became surrounded by several silver sparkles. The sparkles grew larger and were fired all around Ash's part of the battlefield and, suddenly, they grew even larger, turning into pointed gray rocks.

"Oh! What a move by Conway," the MC spoke. "Now, all of Ash's Pokémon that enter the battlefield will take damage from Stealth Rock."

"You are as good as ever, Conway. But," Ash smirked, gazing at his Swellow who smoothly floated in the air, "you can't beat me with just that. Swellow, let's stir things up with Aerial Ace."

On cue, Swellow took to the skies and then flew towards her opponent, backflipping marvellously in midair as her entire body was surrounded by white streaks. She then dove at her opponent at amazing speeds, Forretress unable to follow her movements as she slammed into it, throwing it backwards.

"Sweee low!" she roared, taking flight once again and hovering above the Forretress.

Conway smiled at Ash as he saw that his Forretress recovering from the attack. "That was a powerful move, Ash, but you'll need something much stronger than that to defeat my Forretress."

"Indeed," Ash agreed. "Your Forretress does have great defences. I wouldn't expect any less from a Steel-type of that calibre."

"Uh-uh," Conway interrupted. "My Forretress isn't just good at defence. Its attacks are strong, too." He turned to his Pokémon and shouted. "Forretress, use Rock Blast and bring that bird down!"

Ash calmly waited for Conway's Pokémon to make a move and it did as the red spikes on it glowed bright orange and the other part of its body glowed silver. It then fired multiple silver rocks from its body towards Ash's bird-like Pokémon consecutively, one after the other.

That was when Ash made his move. "Dodge it, Swellow, and try Brave Bird at full power."

As she heard Ash, Swellow swiftly evaded the rocks coming her way, showing off her great speed to everyone watching. Quickly, she pulled her wings in and dived at Forretress like a missile, her body bursting into flames. As she neared her opponent, Swellow pulled out its wings, called her name loudly and her entire body became covered in a blue aura full of energy.

"Forretress! Dodge!"

Conway franticly commanded his Pokémon to dodge, but his cries fell on deaf ears as Swellow slammed into Forretress. After the glow on Swellow's body faded, light blue sparks ran through her wings, causing recoil damage. But, her job was done as Conway's Steel and Bug-type laid unconscious on the ground with swirls in its eyes.

"Forretress is unable to continue. Swellow wins." The referee raised his green flag towards Ash who had won the first round.

Conway returned his Forretress to its Poké Ball with a wry smile on his face. "Return, Forretress. You did well." He then turned his gaze at Ash who appeared to be looking at him as well. "Ash, you're stronger than I expected, but just because you won the first match doesn't meant you'll win the battle."

Ash gave him a defiant smile. "Of course, but I'll warn you. Swellow isn't the only Pokémon I have with that kind of strength."

The next Poké Ball was ready in Conway's hand. "Lickilicky, let's go!"

On his side, the pink, obese Pokémon with a huge tongue, Lickilicky, the evolved form of Lickitung, materialized.

"Lickiee!" it yelped gleefully, smiling at its opponent while revealing its large tongue.

"That's one happy Pokémon," the MC spoke in astonishment. "Look out, folks. This is going to be a great battle."

"So, your next Pokémon is a Lickilicky, huh?!" Ash mused as he observed the Normal-type Pokémon and wondered if he should substitute his Pokémon or not.

"Lickilicky, use Thunderbolt on Swellow," Conway told his Pokémon, adjusting his glasses as usual.

Hearing the command of its Trainer, Lickilicky created bolts of yellow electricity which covered its entire body. It charged the electricity in the form of a beam and aimed it at Swellow.

"Quick, Swellow! Dodge it!"

Swellow obeyed her master's command and flew high, dodging the Thunderbolt in the process.

"Now, use Quick Attack to shake things up," Ash ordered, grinning.

Swellow wasted no time as she reduced the distance between herself and Lickilicky in a matter of a seconds and crashed into its belly, giving it the full brunt of the Quick Attack. But, surprisingly, Lickilicky appeared to be unfazed, just a scratch appearing on its belly.

Ash chuckled when he realized what had happened there. "Great, Conway. You used its big body to absorb the blow." He aimed his Poké Ball towards Swellow as she got enveloped in a red beam of light and disappeared. "Swellow, you battled well."

"Ash has made a wise move by recalling Swellow. Now, we might be up for a battle between two Pokémon of massive power," the MC spoke through the mic. "I can't wait to see Ash's next Pokémon."

Conway smiled at Ash as well. "So, what'll your next Pokémon be, Ash?" Conway asked.

Ash didn't respond. Instead, he just removed his second Poké Ball and chucked it up into the air. From the flashy light, out came a Pokémon that Ash hadn't battle alongside for quite a long time, now. It punched the air in front of it, sending shockwaves in a display of its power.

"Prrrriimmm!" Ash's first ever Fighting-type Pokémon roared, glaring down at his opponent. The stare that he gave to Lickilicky made the Normal-type Pokémon's smile disappear.

Ash took the initiative of the first move, deciding not to waste any time. "Primeape, use Power-Up Punch!"

"Ash, I have a perfect strategy to counter Fighting-types." Conway simpered and gave his own command to his Pokémon. "Hit it with Zen Headbutt, Lickilicky!"

As Primeape dashed at Lickilicky with his glowing fist, Lickilicky charged pinkish energy on top of its head, forming it in the shape of a sphere and charging at Primeape, itself. The crowd watched anxiously as both of them clashed in the middle of the field with their respective attacks.

When they intercepted against each other, the middle area surrounding the two mighty Pokémon got covered in dust. As the dust cleared, both the Pokémon appeared to be standing with none of them taking any major damage although Primeape appeared to have a few small bruises on his fist.

"You played that smartly, Conway. You knew a Psychic-type move like Zen Headbutt always had the advantage over a weak Fighting-type move like Power-Up Punch," Ash praised the green-haired Trainer, clenching his fists, but he'd fulfilled his main purpose of the move. "But, you know, there was a reason I used a weak move like Power-Up Punch. The next time Primeape attacks, it will be much more brutal," Ash explained with a small smile.

Conway gritted his teeth in frustration. He'd been had, but he still tried to keep his composure in the heat of battle. "You got me there. However, the battle isn't over yet." He adjusted his glasses and took in a deep breath, letting all the resentment that he felt out. "Lickilicky, use Zen Headbutt once more. Give it everything you've got and don't hold back."

Lickilicky charged up pink energy on its head and formed a sphere. This time, the Zen Headbutt was larger than the last one it used.

Ash's face appeared to have no emotion as he gazed at Lickilicky. He then turned to Primeape. "Primeape, wait for it to come up close."

"Appppe!" Primeape nodded, waiting for his opponent to attack him.

Lickilicky ran as fast as it could with Zen Headbutt charged up on its head. He jumped and leapt at the unmoving Primeape, having full intention to defeat the Pig Monkey Pokémon with its attack.

"Now, use Low Kick and finish it with Cross Chop!" Ash mumbled, just in time for Primeape to sidestep and evade the attack from the incoming Lickilicky.

As soon as Lickilicky landed on the ground and tried to get its balance back, Primeape lowered its body and swept its leg in a circle-like pattern. The effect of the Low Kick made the Lickilicky lose its balance and that was when Primeape made his move, crossing his arms and slashing them forcefully at Lickilicky. The force of the attack sent Lickilicky crashing through the ground. It stopped right in front of its Trainer, unable to move even an inch.

"Lickilicky is unable to battle! Primeape wins!"

"Primmeeeappeee!" Ash's Primeape roared in victory, turning around to face Ash and showing him a thumbs-up with a smile, which was pretty unusual for a brutal Pokémon like him.

Conway recalled his beaten Lickilicky into its Poké Ball and whispered, "You showed them your power, Lickilicky. I'm proud of you." After saying that, he turned his gaze towards Ash and Primeape. "Looks like my calculations for your strength were a little off."

"I hate to break it to you, but it's been off since the very beginning, Conway," Ash boomed. "You might not know this, but before coming to the Sinnoh League, I did some special training with all my Pokémon and it wasn't for nothing. The results are there for you to see."

Conway laughed creepily before looking on the ground, his glasses shining bright silver. "But this Pokémon of mine is something different." He threw the Poké Ball in the air. "Go, Dusknoir!"

On Conway's side of the field, the Ghost-type evolution of Dusclops, Dusknoir, now floated.

"Dusknoir!" the Pokémon called its name.

"Primeape, return. I have something to test out," Ash smiled as he called Primeape back to his ball. As he exchanged the Poké Balls from his Trainer belt, he gazed at it intently. He nodded to himself and then threw the Poké Ball in the air and out of it came Ash's third Pokémon for the battle.

"Larve tar!" the Pokémon from Johto yelped cutely.

Up in the stands, Brock and Dawn had confused expressions on their faces.

"I didn't know that Ash owned a Larvitar," Dawn commented from her seat, looking at the Rock and Ground-type.

After moments of thinking, Brock frowned, coming to a realization. "Could it be…?" he questioned himself, eyes glued on the battlefield. He snapped his fingers in front of his face as a huge grin spread across the Pokémon Breeder's face. "Yes. That's the Larvitar that hatched when Ash and I were travelling across Johto. We gave it back to the Pokémon Preserve, but it seems like Ash somehow managed to reunite with it."

Dawn tilted her head at Brock's mumbling. "Huh?" she mused. "What do you mean, Brock?"

Turning to her, Brock began his explanation of Larvitar's past. "That Larvitar was originally hatched by Ash, but since the egg belonged to the Pokémon Preserve, we safely gave Larvitar back to them, but it looks like Larvitar decided that it wanted to see Ash again." He smiled as he continued. "Well, Ash did raise the Pokémon in its early days, so no wonder it missed Ash."

Down on the battlefield, the battle began as Conway made the first move. "Dusknoir, let's stir things up and show them our perfect winning combination. Use Trick Room!"

Dusknoir called out its name as its eyes flashed purple and, suddenly, an invisible room made inside the battlefield appeared. The room made by Dusknoir shone for a second before becoming invisible again.

"Trick Room? What that?" a confused Ash asked, but then he realized that he had no time to trail off. He was in the middle of a battle. "No matter. Larvitar, use Rock Slide."

"Larvi! Larve tar!" Larvitar nodded and made a move as his tail glowed bright silver.

"No. You won't be able to," Conway said with a smirk. "Dusknoir, Shadow Punch."

Just as Larvitar was about to move, Dusknoir appeared from nowhere, taking Larvitar completely by surprise and punched him. The punch from Dusknoir changed into a shadowy punch which sent Larvitar crashing over to his Trainer's side. He shakily got back up, struggling to maintain his balance.

The entire stadium gasped at how quickly the Dusknoir moved. Most of them didn't know the effects of Trick Room. Many of them hadn't even heard of that move before. But, they knew that it was Trick Room that caused such an increase in speed in Dusknoir.

Ash gaped at the sight of his Larvitar struggling. He, too, had problems with believing the speed that Dusknoir moved with. "Does Trick Room increase the speed of the user or does it make the slower Pokémon move faster than the faster ones?" Ash wondered out loud, still astonished by it.

Conway balanced his glasses once again before beginning his explanation. "Trick Room is a move which lets the slower Pokémon move first and my Dusknoir is extremely slow and Trick Room is a perfect move for a Pokémon like it. It could move faster than almost any Pokémon under the effects of Trick Room. Unless, of course, its opponent's speed is even lower that Dusknoir's." He let out a small laugh and looked at Larvitar. "This was what I was waiting for Ash. I know that you love raising your Pokémon's speed to such an extent that it would be hard for any other Trainer to match it, and that's the reason that I chose Dusknoir."

Ash gritted his teeth in frustration, the first time that he had lost his composure after his training. He took a deep breath in order to calm himself down. "You know me well, Conway, but there will be a time when the effects of Trick Room will be eliminated." He smirked, mumbling a few words to himself. "I'll wait for that moment to finish the battle."

"Hhmpp. I guess I'll have to defeat you quickly, then," Conway told Ash. "Dusknoir, use Shadow Punch once again."

Ash quickly countered. "Larvitar, hang in there and use Dig to go underground."

Just when Larvitar started digging under the ground, Dusknoir used the effects of Trick Room and threw another Shadow Punch at the Rock Skin Pokémon, stopping its move as well as causing some major damage.

Ash grimaced at the sight of Larvitar crying in pain. He'd had enough. He couldn't see Larvitar hurt anymore. He removed his Poké Ball and, just as he was about to call Larvitar back, Conway gave his Dusknoir an order.

"Dusknoir. Quickly. Don't let it escape. Stop it with Mean Look," Conway ordered his Pokémon. Dusknoir's eye glowed and so did Larvitar's body, diverting the beam of the Poké Ball.

Ash clenched his fists before speaking out loud. "I forfeit Larvitar. It won't battle again in this match." After saying that, Ash looked at the ground in dismay. He should never have used Larvitar in the battle. He didn't have any experience in a real Pokémon battle since he was always in the Pokémon Preserve under his mother's care until then.

A look of disbelief crossed Conway's face. "What?" he questioned, completely stupefied. "Why are you forfeiting it?"

Ash didn't reply. He just turned towards the referee who nodded and raised a flag towards Conway. "Since Ash has forfeited his Larvitar, this round goes to Dusknoir."

"So, finally, Conway has one win under his belt, but this act by Ash Ketchum is remarkable. I just shows how good a Trainer Ash is," the MC praised Ash's brave call to call Larvitar back and the whole stadium burst into loud roars, acknowledging Ash's caring nature as a Trainer.

Cynthia and Charles Goodshow sitting in the VIP box smiled at Ash's decision. They understood that forfeiting a Pokémon in a battle wasn't the easiest thing to do. It took a lot of courage in order to sacrifice your self-esteem like Ash just did. Meanwhile, Paul, watching the match from a corner of the stadium, scowled at Ash's behaviour. He found the act to be pathetic and cowardly.

Conway sighed. "Dusknoir, undo the Mean Look."

Dusknoir did as it was told, undoing the Mean Look with its eye shining. Ash, again, raised his Poké Ball and called Larvitar back, albeit with success, this time.

"Larvitar, you were awesome. Take a good rest. I won't let your hard work go to waste," Ash whispered words of encouragement to his Pokémon as he put Larvitar's Ball back on his belt and unclipped another one. He raised the Poké Ball into the air and it snapped open, Swellow coming out of the Ball for her second battle.

"Swelll-low!" Swellow chirped in a high-pitched tone, glaring at her Ghost-type opponent.

Dusknoir had its own pride as it, too, called its name and stared at Swellow with its only eye. "Dusk-noiiir!"

"So, now, it will be a battle between Conway's Dusknoir and Ash's Swellow. Will Ash's Swellow be able to counter Dusknoir's amazing speed under the effect of Trick Room?" the MC questioned the crowd loudly, getting elated by the battle.

_'I'll have to stall until the effect of Trick Room ends. Normal-type attacks won't affect Dusknoir, so using Quick Attack is useless, as well,'_ Ash thought, intently staring at the battlefield. The Dusknoir had changed the tide of the match completely. Ash underestimated Conway. That was all there was to it, but he wouldn't make the same mistake again.

"Dusknoir, get near Swellow and use Thunder Punch," Conway ordered with a grin on his face.

"Swellow, stay close to the ground and use Steel Wing on the ground," Ash calmly told his Flying-type.

Dusknoir's fist glowed with electricity all around it and Swellow didn't even have time to move. It struck Swellow with the super effective move, making Swellow cry in pain.

"Swellow, use Steel Wing on the ground one more time and stay like that," Ash ordered.

"This is turning into an amazing battle, folks," the MC commented on the intense match taking place. The crowd was really getting into the battle, now. They cheered loudly as the intensity of the battle increased every second. Cynthia, Brock and Dawn all had anxious expressions on their faces, each of them wanting Ash to somehow pull out of this trap.

Swellow's wings glowed silver and turned into steel while Dusknoir, again, approached Swellow with unimaginable speed. But, this time, before Dusknoir could strike with its Electric-type punch, Ash's bird-like Pokémon managed to strike the ground with one of her wings. When the opposing Ghost-type connected with her, Swellow didn't take any damage this time as the electricity was sent to the ground.

Without wasting a beat, Ash made the move that he'd been waiting for. He finally got the chance to get a hit. "Do it now!" he yelled for the first time.

Swellow obeyed and brought down her other wing that had turned into steel and smashed Dusknoir right on the head making her opponent cry in pain. Dusknoir floated up shakily after taking the Steel Wing of Swellow's. It appeared to have taken a critical hit on its head.

"Dusknoir, hang in there," Conway bawled to his Pokémon, a hint of worry in his voice.

"Swellow. Now, bring it down with Brave Bird."

Swellow pulled in her wings and took to the air as its body became engulfed with what appeared to be fire. She then dove at Dusknoir, pulling out her wings, her entire body glowing with a blue aura of energy before crashing into Dusknoir who couldn't get away in time, Trick Room's effect apparently ending when it was struck by Steel Wing.

The dust that covered the two Pokémon began to clear to reveal Swellow's body covered in bruises and light blue sparks flying through her wings while Dusknoir appeared to be unmoving on the ground.

It didn't take the referee long to announce the victor. "Dusknoir is unable to battle. Swellow wins. Since all three of Conway's Pokémon have been knocked out, the winner of this match is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town."

The crowd burst into roars upon Ash's victory. They had witnessed a great match—a match where both Trainers attempted to outsmart the other but, in the end, it came down to whose Pokémon were stronger. Strategies and tactics are an important part of a Pokémon battle, that's true. But, if a Pokémon doesn't have the necessary strength to oppose its enemy, then the strategies will do little to avoid the inevitable.

Conway called his Dusknoir back to its Poké Ball and gazed at the Ball with his glasses glowing again. "The heated battle gave me the ideas to work on new strategies with. Another battle equation has been added to my database," the nerd laughed.

On the other side, Swellow flew to her Trainer's side and warbled her name happily. Ash petted Swellow on the head for a job well done. She cooed in delight, enjoying the affection that the raven-haired boy showed towards her. Ash sighed as the little bit of nerves that were building inside him disappeared. He'd triumphed over Conway and was now one step closer to winning the coveted Sinnoh League.

* * *

**How was the chapter? This is my longest chapter ever. Almost 11 k words. **

**I was really tired after finishing this. The part that took me the longest was the battle. I had't written a Pokemon battles in a few months(My last battle being the one in Prince of Kalos) and this one proved to be really difficult because of me not writing battles for a while.**

**If you were wondering about Cynthia's age, i have decided to make her about 19-20. Ash is 16, Dawn is 15 while Brock is 20. Since there will be Pearlshipping and also Rayshipping, I don't want to make a huge age difference between the two. **

**Remember, these are pairing until the Sinnoh League ends so there might be changes when Ash leaves for Unova.**

**Anyway, enough about that. how was the chapter? I hope you enjoyed the results of my hard work on the PC.**

**Tell me what you think in the reviews and thanks for reading!**


	5. Fangs of Victory

_**Fangs of Victory**_

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**Hello again! What can I say, it's been over two months since I updated this story of mine. **

**I started this chapter right after I published the last one and had written around 270 odd words. But then, I went through a huge writer's block for this fic. I just wasn't able to do something about it Even though I was motivated at time, I wasn' able to get through but as you can see, I was finally able to overcome that hurdle and bring you this chapter. **

**I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Ash and his friends sat in the middle row of one of the stadiums of the Lily of the Valley Conference, curiously waiting for the Pokemon battle that was about to take place in the field. The two trainers that stood on either side of the ground were Tobias, the Darkrai trainer and a trainer with blue hair named Anton.

"We all await to see Tobias' Darkrai in action once again and the seats for this battle had been sold out on the first day itself." The MC yelled through the microphone, everyone presently sitting in the stadium cheering loudly with excitement in their tone.

With the referee's signal, the two trainers released their Pokemon and as expected, Tobias's Darkrai came out of its ball as everyone gazed at the Legendary Pokemon in awe. They all kept their eyes fixated on Darkrai and after a few moments of silence, they all burst into loud cheers of "Darkrai!". The entire stadium roared in applause for the Legendary Dark Pitch Pokemon without paying any attention to Anton's Medicham.

As the battle started, everyone sat on the edge of their seats, wanting to see the Legendary Dark-type in action. They got what they wanted as Darkrai defeated Medicham in what seemed to be only a few seconds with its Dark Void and Dream Eater combination that'd become famous after its revelation in the Preliminaries. Even though Anton appeared to be well prepared, Darkrai took out all three of his Pokemon with ease without even taking any major damage; the only hits that struck it being a Thunderbolt and Water Pulse which didn't even seem to faze it.

* * *

"That Darkrai sure is something. I can tell that those Pokemon that the Darkrai defeated weren't weak. To take out those Pokemon without being the least bit tired, you've got to be careful of him, Ash." Brock explained seriously as he walked besides his two friends, Ash and Dawn after the end of Tobias' battle which marked the end of the second round of the Sinnoh League.

With his hands behind his back, Ash had a blunt expression on his face as he replied to Brock's concerns. "Don't worry, Brock. I know it's powerful but I believe in my Pokemon as well." Ash said with confidence at which, the yellow rodent on his shoulder nuzzled his cheek. "I know that Tobias is the trainer to beat in this Sinnoh League but I have to focus on others as well." He looked up in the sky and spoke again. "There might be a trainer who may beat Tobias before I even have a chance to fight the guy, myself."

"Also, Ash," Dawn started, speaking for the first time in the conversation between her two male companions. "That Tobias guy might have more strong Pokemon like Darkrai. Maybe another Legendary?" Dawn pondered in thought as she stopped walking and looked at the ground nonchalantly.

"Pi Piplup!" The blue penguin Pokemon in Dawn's arms too, stated his opinion. Of course, no one besides Pikachu could understand him.

* * *

Another couple of days passed by without much happening with our heroes. Ash made the most of the free time between the rounds to get some last minute training in with some of his Pokemon, focussing mainly on the moves they had either learnt recently.

The match-ups for the Top 32 of the Lily of the Valley Conference were to be announced in the Pokemon Center and no wonder, the Pokemon Center was crowded by the remaining participants who eagerly awaited know their Round 3 opponents. They didn't have to wait long as the screen instantly shuffled the pictures and soon, the 16 matches of the next round were displayed on the massive LCD screen for everyone to see.

In the middle of the giant hall, Ash smiled as the identity of his next opponent unveiled on the screen. "It looks like I am up against a guy named Abel." Ash said to his friends, looking at the screen to get a good look of his opponent in the next round.

"I think I've heard the name Abel somewhere," Dawn kept a finger on her chin, looking up at the ceiling as she tried to recall where she'd heard Abel's name before.

Standing beside his two friends, Brock too spoke. "Wasn't Abel one of the coordinators in the Grand Festival?" Brock asked to no one in particular. "If I am not mistaken, he made it to the Top 8 of the Grand Festival."

"Top 8?!" Ash exclaimed in a bit of astonishment. "He must be pretty good then. But it looks like I'll have to show him what a battle specialist can do." Ash declared with confidence, a hint of arrogance present in his tone, which sounded pretty unusual coming from a guy like Ash.

As soon as she heard Ash speak about being superior to a coordinator, Dawn snorted, puffing her cheeks. "What do you mean by that, Mr. Battle Specialist?"

At Dawn's response to his statement, the raven-haired trainer chuckled. He knew he'd said a bit too much and might have insulted Dawn's pride as a coordinator. "I… I just got carried away there." He slumped his shoulders, aware that he wouldn't get away with this. "I am sorry. I was not referring to you so …. You can let it slide."

"Well…" Dawn paused for a long time before speaking again. "It's okay." She finished, turning around and folding her arms as a tiny smirk made its way to her face.

* * *

Ash, Dawn and Brock sat on one of the benches outside the Pokemon Center as they all gazed at the beautiful full moon in the night sky. They were waiting for something; or rather someone to make their appearance and they knew the one they waited for could be there any moment.

Suddenly, Pikachu jumped out of Ash's lap and excitedly pointed at the sky. "Pika Pikachu!" he screamed.

The action of the yellow rodent forced the others around him to follow his tiny finger and when the image of the Pokemon flying down from the sky became clear, a huge grin spread across everyone's face.

"Hey, Gliscor!" Ash yelled out to his Ground and Flying-type Pokemon who descended towards him with her tongue out of her mouth, a usual habit of hers.

The Gliding Pokemon neared the ground in no time and as soon as she reached her trainer, she hugged Ash, taking her trainer down on the ground with her. Gliscor licked Ash's face, making the amber-eyed teen laugh as the tickling feeling that he'd never felt since he left Gliscor to train with the Air Battle Master, sank in.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" Ash petted Gliscor, getting up on his feet after the fall, his newly arrived Pokemon gave him. "It's great to see you again."

"Gli Gli Gliscor!" Gliscor shrieked in joy. A few tears formed in her huge eyes as she hugged her trainer again, falling down on the ground with Ash, really glad to reunite with Ash. Even when she was with Ash during their journey through the Sinnoh region, she used to greet Ash the same way every day but this hug was one filled with the collected affection of the time she stayed away from Ash.

"Hey Gliscor, I have prepared some special food for you." Brock told the Ground and Flying-type with a smile on his face.

"Glisscor!" Gliscor yelled, looking forward to eating the Pokemon food that Brock apparently prepared for her.

"Pika Pi!" Pikachu waved at his friend and jumped on top of her head.

And just like that, the group greeted their friend, who'd stayed with the Air Battle Master in Sinnoh to train and get stronger. And no one wanted to see the results of her training more than Gliscor's trainer, Ash who looked forward to working with the Gliding Pokemon again.

* * *

Our hero, Ash Ketchum stood on one of the ends of the field of battle and opposite him stood a blonde-haired boy with green eyes; it was Ash's Top 32 opponent – Abel. Both the trainers readied their Pokeballs in their hands, waiting for the referee's signal to begin the battle on the grass field.

"This will be a 3-on-3 battle between Ash from Pallet Town and Abel from Sunyshore City will now begin. Substitutions are allowed for both trainers," The referee raised both the red and green flags in either of his hand and brought them down at once before declaring. "Begin!"

Ash as well as Abel threw their Pokeballs on the field, which opened up and in bright flashes of lights from both the balls, the first Pokemon of both the trainers participating in the battle materialized in the middle. Out of Ash's Pokeball came out his sea weasel Pokemon, Buizel while on out of Abel's Pokemon came out a quadruped Pokemon resembling a lion, having predominantly black fur and a yellow, four-pointed star at the end of its tail.

"Bui Bui!" The orange Water-type of Ash's yelled, folding his arms and staring at his opponent confidently.

"Luxxx!" The Gleam Eyes Pokemon, Luxray roared, the hair on its head beginning to stand up as it became ready for battle.

Ash pumped his fists forward and commanded the first move. "Buizel, let's start with Water Pulse!"

With a loud howl of his name, Buizel brought his hands together and formed a pulsating ball of water in the middle of his palms. The sea weasel Pokemon jumped in the air and bawled the Water Pulse at Luxray who stood proudly at the opposite side of the field.

Abel pointed his finger forwards, flicking his blonde hair as he ordered his Pokemon. "Dodge it, Luxray and the use Thunder Fang on Buizel!"

Just as the Water Pulse neared it, the Electric-type lion leapt up in the air with grace, effectively evading the Water-type move. It then, launched itself towards Buizel with its long and sharp fangs sparkling with yellow electricity.

The contest-like battle style of Abel's amused Ash to the utmost as he smirked, putting his hands in his pockets. He should have expected this sort of a battle from a coordinator good enough to make it to the Top 8 of Sinnoh's Grand Festival. Even though he'd been thinking about Abel's battle style, the trainer from Pallet Town never took his mind off the battle in the middle. He very well realized the danger that Luxray posed to Buizel with its type advantage and Electric-Type moves.

"Counter the Thunder Fang with Iron Tail!" Ash told his Buizel calmly, not one bit worried that Luxray was almost onto Buizel.

"Bui Bui!"

Buizel screamed and showing speed that surprised everyone watching except for Ash, he swiftly dodged Luxray's Thunder Fang attack. Wasting no time, the sea weasel Pokemon's tail glowed bright silver as he dashed at Abel's Luxray, showcasing his amazing speed and struck the Electric-Type on the head. Luxray grunted in the pain it felt, closing his eyes at being pushed back towards his trainer's side.

"What speed!" The MC commented, getting cheers from the entire crowd. "That Buizel of Ash's is making Luxray look slower than a Slowpoke!"

"That was an impressive move, Ash." Abel complemented the boy from Pallet Town, smiling as he saw his Electric-Type lion recover from the blow it suffered. "Now, Take Down."

With a confident smirk on his face, Ash calmly said. "Buizel, intercept Luxray with your Aqua Jet."

The two Pokemon on the battlefield initiated their respective attacks; Luxray charging full throttle towards its opponent while Buizel got enveloped in water and leaped forward with excellent speed. Both of the Pokemon met in the middle of the field and clashed with Take Down and Aqua Jet, each of them trying to overpower the other in what had become a battle of strength.

"Don't let up, Buizel. Show them how much stronger you've gotten!" Buizel's black-haired trainer encouraged him with a grin across his features, which clearly showed the trust he had in his Water-Type Pokemon to come through.

Hearing Ash was all Buizel needed to give it more than his all in the clash as he shouted his name and quickly started to push Luxray back. The lion-like Pokemon roared and dug his nails on the ground to stand his ground.

However, the blonde-haired boy from Sunyshore City didn't look concerned at all at the sight of his Pokemon losing the power-battle to Buizel. He merely grinned and spoke quietly. "Use Spark!"

On queue, Luxray didn't take any time to obey his trainer. Its entire body got covered in electricity with blue sparks of thunder running throughout as it struck Buizel who was surrounded by water, making him leave a loud cry of pain. The entire crowd gasped at the amazing sight of the beautiful blue electricity released by Luxray combining with the blue water and also how, Abel had turned the tables with his sly tactic.

The only thing that Ash could do at that moment was clench his fists in frustration. He grimaced seeing Buizel fall to his knees and somehow retreat back to his side of the field while Luxray did the same. Ash took a deep and long breath to calm himself down after the mistake he'd committed. He knew that the only reason that had led to a situation like this was his own overconfidence that he could take a coordinator lightly.

Getting his composure and concentration back, Ash gazed at the struggling sight of Buizel who could only pant like a dog after he took the Spark attack at such a close range; not to mention that he was covered in water at the time of contact which made the Electric-type move even more devastating for him.

Meanwhile, Abel saw this as a great opportunity for him to get the first victory over his opponent. "Luxray, now finish it with Crunch!" He screamed at the excitement he felt thinking about advancing more in the Sinnoh League.

With a nod, Luxray dashed across the field as quickly as he could, reaching Buizel in almost no time and catching the Water-Type in his giant fangs, it bit Buizel with every bit of strength it could muster. The sea weasel Pokemon could do nothing but shriek in agony which made Ash turn away, unable to see his Pokemon in such miserable condition.

"It looks like Luxray is going to take this bout. Buizel doesn't look like it can continue for much longer!" The MC yelled the obvious through the microphone.

'This is bad. Buizel won't be able to take another attack like that from Luxray.' Ash thought as he tried to think of a way out of the awful situation he was in. He did have two other Pokemon who could help him get through this battle but he realized that losing in such a manner would do loads of damage to Buizel's honour as a Pokemon. He was always a proud Pokemon to begin with and a loss like this might put him in a state of trauma.

Eventually making up his mind for his next move, Ash raised Buizel's Pokeball towards the field. "Buizel, you should rest for a while. Return!" The bright red light made its way to Buizel but before it could take Buizel back, the Water-Type jumped out of the way, turned back and gazed at his trainer.

"Bui Bui!" The weasel wailed back at his trainer as he pumped his fists towards Ash, his will to keep on fighting clearly visible on his face.

Suddenly, Buizel's orange body became enveloped in a shiny, silvery light and simultaneously, his entire body began to change shape. Ash's Water-Type's body got longer; his head, his tail, arms and legs beginning to grow as well. It seemed almost as if Buizel's body was maturing and becoming developed.

A smile surfaced on Ash's features when he realized what was happening to Buizel. 'So, you're finally evolving, Buizel. You've worked hard for it!'

Soon, the light surrounding Buizel died down to show everyone the evolved form of Buizel, Floatzel. Floatzel's features were identical to Buizel, except for the being more muscular and sharper looking. His eyes appeared to be more keener, the fins on his arms as well as the inflatable surrounding his neck growing bigger as well. The black whisker marks on his cheeks had also become more refined and so had his fangs, which could probably intimidate even the mightiest of foes. There was no doubt, Ash's weasel in this state would be much, much stronger than he was in his pre-evolved state.

The newly evolved Floatzel snapped his eyes open at once and gave his enemy a menacing scowl. "Zelll!"

"What an incredible turn of events this is, folks!" The MC shouted, utterly thrilled after watching the amazing evolution of Buizel into Floatzel. "Buizel has evolved in between this battle. This twist has made this match even more interesting. While it still seems that Luxray has the advantage, who knows what kind of power Floatzel has gained after its evolution!" The crowd too cheered on in excitement, the young kids in the stands jumping in joy and elation that they could only experience at events like the Sinnoh League.

Abel could do nothing but watch Floatzel in astonishment. But soon enough, the blonde regained his sense as he smirked and announced. "Buizel may have evolved but the damage it has taken from Luxray's attack won't disappear. I still have the advantage." He pointed his finger towards Buizel and commanded. "Luxray, Spark!"

Even though Ash saw Luxray charge electricity throughout its body, the smile on his face didn't go away. He nonchalantly pointed his Pokedex at Floatzel and after reading what the screen displayed, the trained put the device back in his pocket. "Aqua Tail!"

At the immediate instant Floatzel heard Ash, he leapt in the air, water revolving around his dual tails at high speeds. Not long after, he banged the Aqua Tail onto Luxray, who didn't have enough time to move as he went crashing through the ground and rammed into the walls of the battlefield.

The increase in Floatzel's speed and strength surprised everyone, including Ash. Neither Luxray nor Abel have any time to react before Floatzel connected with his attack.

Abel grit his teeth in rage as he saw his Gleam Eyes Pokemon struggle to get up. He'd won the match and he probably should have finished it earlier, so as not giving Buizel a chance to evolve and still battle. And the only thing to blame to let that chance go would be the battle style of a coordinator, due to which his Pokemon landed gracefully after performing an attack. However, Abel knew that he still could win this battle with one strike and he wouldn't make a mess of it this time.

"Floatzel, lets win this while Luxray's still recovering. Finish it with Brick Break!" Ash said in his usual tone and Floatzel's right fist glowed as he dashed towards Luxray with speed, which made everyone gasp once again.

Seeing Floatzel get close to Luxray was seen as a perfect opportunity by Abel. "Luxray, use Thunder at full power!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

The Brick struck its target as Luxray groaned in pain but with the remaining strength that he could muster, he followed his trainer's order and sent lighting towards the sky. Sensing the danger, Floatzel tried to escape as far as he could but this time, Luxray was prepared, biting Floatzel's tail to keep him from running. The clouds roared as yellow lighting struck the ground, covering the entire battlefield in dust.

The entire stadium anxiously awaited the result of the clash of the two powerhouses of Abel and Ash; the two trainers being among the ones wanting to know the outcome just as curiously as well. The dirt slowly began to lift, revealing two beings in the middle of the field, but giving no one any idea of what had transpired between those two.

Finally, after a few seconds of wait which seemed like a long time, the field finally cleared and what everyone saw made them shout loudly, showing their support. There, both Floatzel and Luxray laid over each other, eyes covered in swirls and no movement from either of them. They had both fainted after fighting with all they had and the outcome was probably the best one for the match.

The referee, after tasking a good look at Luxray and Floatzel, raised both the green and red flags in the air. "Both Floatzel and Luxray are unable to continue. This round is a draw!"

The MC, finally coming back to reality after watching the amazing battle screeched. "What a match that was, guys! When everyone thought that Luxray was sure to win it, Ash's Buizel underwent an unexpected evolution after which, Floatzel never looked back and took Luxray down with him. This was truly a battle between two equally strong Pokemon and where else can you watch such bouts other than the Pokemon League!"

A smile appeared on Ash's face as he recalled his Floatzel back to his Pokeball proudly. "You did well, Floatzel." Ash whispered, gazing at the weasel's Pokeball before putting it back onto his belt. Removing another Pokeball from the belt, Ash glanced across the field and found that Abel too, was ready with his next Pokeball.

As soon as the referee gave the signal, Ash and Abel threw their Pokeballs on the field and their second Pokemon for the battle materialized on the battlefield. The Pokemon Ash chose for this fight his newly reunited Gliscor while Abel decided to go with a light-blue Pokemon, having two pair of rhombus-shaped wings with an elongated teardrop coming out of its head.

"Gli Gliscorr!" Gliscor cried out, announcing her arrival.

"Maaaa!" Abel's Pokemon, a Masquerain chirped as it took to the air and flapped its tender-looking wings.

A quick observation of his opponent's Masquerain was all Ash needed before deciding to take the initial move for himself. "Gliscor, start off with Fire Fang!" he ordered sharply. He'd learned from his mistake of underestimating Abel, just because he was a coordinator. He luckily pulled out of that situation somehow but the raven-haired trainer knew better than to rely on luck alone to win him Pokemon battles.

The quick move of Ash's has got Abel's attention and he looked at Ash defiantly. He too, had realized that Ash was getting serious, which meant that he would have no time to mess around. "Masquerain, use Air Slash to counter!"

As her fangs burned with red-hot fire surrounding them, Gliscor glided through the wind and closed in on her opponent. Masquerain too, didn't waste any time in crossing its wings and slashing the air around it. The slashed air current developed into almost, invisible mini-swords and gushed at Gliscor. In no time, Gliscor with her Fire Fang and Masquerain's Air Slash neared but before the Air Slash could hit, Ash's Gliding Pokemon acutely evaded all the sharp currents of air, heading straight for the Eyeball Pokemon and digging her sharp and fiery teeth into Masquerain. A loud shriek of pain could be heard from Masquerain, who retreated shakily to her trainer's side after taking the Super-effective damage from Gliscor's Fire-Type move, the burn marks clearly visible on her body.

"That was an incredibly strong start from Ash to this round!" The MC shouted once again. "Super-Effective!"

Abel gritted his teeth, knowing that that one move had put Ash in the lead for this round. His Masquerain had taken lots of damage from that Fire-Fang and he had to do something special soon to even get back in the contest. However, being a coordinator, he also understood the importance of remaining calm even if his Pokemon was on the defensive.

"Masquerain, give that Gliscor double the damage you took with Ice Beam!" He told to his Pokemon with a sly grin, which brimmed with confidence. Upon hearing its trainer, The Bug and Flying-Type opened its small mouth and began to create a ball of pure ice inside it

However, Ash wasn't about to let up the pressure of the initial blow that he'd caused to his foe. His experience in the years of travels throughout the Pokemon world told him to be on the aggressive till the very end in this kind of a battle. "Dodge the Ice Beam and then attack with Cross Poison." The amber-eyed boy spoke calmly and confidently.

A beam of Ice was aimed at Gliscor by Masquerain but Ash's Fang Scorpion Pokemon occurred to be fast enough to dodge the icy cold attack. Gliscor took full advantage of Abel and Masquerain's surprise to perform her attack as she crossed her pincers, which soon became purple and deadly poisonous. With a quick little flight to close the distance between her and her opponent, Gliscor fired the X-shaped poison slash at Masquerain. The Cross Poison struck Masquerain almost instantly, thrashing it to the ground. The impact between Abel's Pokemon and the field added extra damage to the harm it had already suffered because of Cross Poison.

A grimace could be seen appear on Abel's features at the beating his Pokemon just took. Ash's Gliscor was proving out to be even stronger than his Floatzel after evolving and the blonde-haired coordinator and trainer didn't know if his Masquerain could defeat it anymore. But his woes worsened when he heard the opposing trainer make another move.

"Finish this with Stone Edge!" came out another one of Ash's relentless instruction.

Gliscor obeyed her trainer and commenced the attack as several sharply-pointed stone materialized around the Fang Scorpion's entire body. Freeing her arms, Gliscor aimed all the shards at the crippled Masquerain that laid haplessly on the field. As the heart of every spectator started to beat faster, the Stone Edge mercilessly crashed into Masquerain, unable to even let out a cry to release its pain.

The referee raised the green flag towards Ash and announced. "Masquerain is unable to continue. Gliscor wins!"

The entire stadium couldn't utter a word for a few moments until the MC finally shouted in amazement. "What a brilliant match that was, folks! Gliscor won the match without even taking the least bit of damage. Masquerain was totally outclassed!"

* * *

In one of the sectors of the stand, a certain group appeared to have happy as well as astonished looks on their faces. Being the least surprised, Brock grinned realizing just how strong his best friend's Pokemon had become staying with the Air Battle Master. Dawn seemed to be pleasantly surprised while Barry and Conway began to measure Ash's strength in their minds. Believe it or not, Barry had started to take the League seriously, even if a little bit.

"Woah!" Dawn exclaimed. "Gliscor sure has gotten stronger in these past few months."

"Yeah! The accuracy with which it used Stone Edge and the way it dodged Air Slash were just incredible." Brock gave his views on Gliscor's strength, a tinge of pride in his tone. "Ash has turned into a hell of a trainer after those two months of training. He is maturing," As he said that, his expression changed into a perverted one. "although, he does need to leave his thick head behind if he wants to go far in the more important elements in life."

A confused Barry cocked his head, turning to look at Brock. "More important elements in life?" he asked, completely unaware of what Brock meant just then. "Isn't Pokemon battling the most important thing in a trainer's life?"

At the blonde's response, Brock, Dawn as well as Conway sweat-dropped. They realized that not only Ash but also Barry needed a bit of training on the matter of discussion. Barry was at least as dense as Ash if not more and talking to him about it would be fruitless.

"Lets concentrate on the battle for now." Dawn suggested and raised her finger, not in the mood to deal with Barry's ignorance as a human being.

* * *

"That boy has evolved leaps and bounds since the first time I met him during the Indigo League in Kanto!" The short President of the Pokemon League said as he watched the two participants on the field ready to commence the battle.

The person sitting next to him didn't have anything to say to Goodshow. Cynthia, wearing her usual black outfit simply licked her strawberry flavoured ice-cream, her gaze still fixated on the battlefield, or rather, fixed on a certain black-haired teenager from Pallet Town.

"He surely has gotten stronger." She said, still eyeing the battlefield. Goodshow, next to her nodded, not aware of the fact that by stronger, Cynthia meant his physical strength and not the strength of his Pokemon. Ash did have her in his grip a few nights before and Cynthia surely felt that she was being held by a man, the kind which could even make the brutal Champion of Sinnoh fluster.

* * *

"Gliiiiscor!" Gliscor roared victoriously, standing on her tail in front of Ash with her tongue sticking out of her mouth.

"Your Gliscor is strong, Ash," Abel complimented his foe with a smile before looking at the last Pokeball in the palm of his hand. "It's all up to you now. Go, Gallade!"

The Pokeball Abel threw landed on the field and in a flash of light, his last Pokeball took its position on the field. The Pokemon with lavender upper body and white lower body screamed his name to announce his arrival in the battle.

From across the field, Ash eyed the Gallade with huge interest; the thing catching his eye being the unusual colour of the Gallade. He'd seen a few Gallade in his life before and all of them had green upper bodies but this one was different. Although, the question that arouse in his mind was whether the Pokemon in front of him was only special in its colour or did it have the strength to be called special as well.

"A shiny Gallade!" Ash uttered as he watched the Psychic and Fighting-Type Pokemon. "Lets see what its got."

A serious expression rose on Abel's face as the referee signalled for the match to resume. The blonde trainer knew that if he had any chance of winning this fight against Ash, he had to get rid of Gliscor quickly. The fact that his Gallade had to be fresh to face Ash's last Pokemon was very well on his mind. However, he just couldn't figure out a way yet to defeat Ash's Gliding Pokemon without going all out with his Gallade.

Abel pushed all the thoughts aside, deciding it was best to concentrate on the battle at hand instead of thinking about what he would do later on and shouted out loud. "Gallade, get in close to Gliscor and use Psycho Cut!"

Intent set on finishing this battle as quickly as possible, Ash, too, made his move. "Gliscor, use X-Scissor!"

The Shiny Gallade ran forward with decent agility, the fins on his arms shining silver. On the other side, Ash's Gliscor took to the air, crossed her pincers forming a bright yellow X and descended swiftly towards the incoming Gallade. The Pokemon neared each other with their physical attacks and in the next moment, Gallade attempted to slash Gliscor brutally with his fins while Gliscor aimed her X-Scissor at Gallade as well.

Both the attacks collided with each other, the pink aura slash as well as the yellowish scissor trying to gain dominance in the battle of power. After moments of struggle, the Psycho Cut and X-Scissor were both cancelled out by each other as both the Pokemon pushed each other to the opposite sides.

"These two seem to be equal in terms of power!" The MC commented on the draw of attacks.

"Gli Gliscor!" Gliscor yelled at her foe, somewhat of a smile forming on her face.

"Gall Gallade!" The Psychic and Fighting-Type shouted with a smirk.

A silent chuckle couldn't help but escape from Ash's mouth as he watched the two Pokemon interact between the battle. The way the two looked at each other now was different from the stares they gave before the fight had commenced. The raven-haired boy contemplated that after testing each other out in the battlefield and getting the idea of the other's strength, the two had come to respect one another, even if a little.

"Gallade, Brick Break!" Abel ordered.

Ash didn't realize that he was lost deep in thought until he heard Abel shout a command to his Pokemon. He scorned as he watched Gallade dash forward with his right palm shining with fighting energy.

"Dodge it, Gliscor!" Ash shouted, a bit of panic in his tone as he realized that Gallade was moving faster than last time. By a slight margin, Gliscor barely dodged Gallade's Brick Break, taking flight, just above the ground.

However, the missed attack didn't bother Abel much as he smirked. "Now, quickly use Leaf Blade!" he ordered.

And just as the Blade Pokemon of Abel's heard his trainer, he instantly commenced the said move; both his arms becoming sharper as if they were blades made out of leaves. In the very next instant, Gallade leapt up in the air and took Gliscor by complete surprise; slashing the Fang Scorp Pokemon as hard as he could with his Leaf Blade. Managing to evade one of Galade's arms, Gliscor reduced the damage she took but it was still enough to make her stumble on the ground.

A grimace appeared on Ash's face when he watched his Pokemon take the first bit of damage in the battle. But he very well realized that the battle was on and he couldn't let Abel take the lead in it. "Gliscor, now use Giga Impact!" he commanded without wasting any time.

Gliscor flew up high in the air and she aimed herself at Gallade on the field. As she descended at amazing speed, her body became enveloped in a swirling orange energy, gaining more power as she covered more distance.

Realizing that a clean hit from Giga Impact could mean curtains for him, Abel shouted. "Gallade, let it come to you and use Zen Headbutt to stop it in its tracks!"

With a shout of his name, Gallade prepared for the Zen Headbutt as Gliscor came ever so closer to him every passing millisecond. A pinkish orb of Psychic aura formed on the Blade Pokemon's head as he tried to pour as much mental power in the attack as possible. A moment later, Gliscor's Giga Impact crashed straight into Gallade, even shaking the earth itself due to the tremendous power of one of the strongest Normal-Type moves in existence.

"Gallade!" Abel cried out on the top of his lungs; his scared facial expression showing the full extent of his worries upon seeing his Pokemon on the defending side of such a blow.

The entire crowd as well as the two trainers waited for the small dust cloud to clear out, each of them supporting one of the Pokemon on the field and wanting that particular one to come out on top. Their curiosities ended when Gliscor flew out of the dust cloud and reverse-glided towards her trainer with a few little bruises on her face. And just as everyone in the field thought it was over, Gallade too jumped out of the debris and back-flipped near his trainer's side, albeit his body was covered in severe wounds, clarifying the victor between the clash of Giga Impact and Zen Headbutt.

"Abel, your Gallade is very strong but it can't beat my Gliscor." Ash grinned and explained in order to taunt his Top 32 opponent.

"What do you mean?!" Abel questioned, evidently annoyed at Ash.

"Your Gallade is too slow compared to Gliscor. If he was faster, he could've completed the Zen Headbutt and would have taken much less damage. But, you focus too much on making your moves look as good as possible and that doesn't help when facing an enemy who can defeat you in the little opening you give between attacks." Ash shrugged his shoulders, irritating Abel even more. "Or rather, those opening are pretty big and a trainer good enough to make it to the Sinnoh League should be able to easily exploit them."

Brock, Dawn, Barry, Cynthia and even Conway were completely astonished by the latest comments made by Ash. They all knew him well enough to know that he would never insult his opponent like this. Even if he told Abel was completely true, he still wouldn't say such things in front of the massive crowd like this. At least, the old Ash they knew wouldn't.

Abel gritted his teeth in rage after hearing Ash's insults. "That's enough! Alright, Gallade, use Night Slash and then annihilate that guy's Gliscor with Brick Break!" The blonde coordinator yelled, his anger taking over his senses as he tried to finish the match.

Following what his trainer told him to, Gallade's sharp arms shone with dark energy this time. He jumped in the air and gushed at Gliscor on the opposite side of the ground in order to crush his enemy with the Dark-Type move.

"Gliscor, end it with Acrobatics." Ash ordered, remaining as cool and composed as he'd ever been in his life.

Gliscor glided throughout the battlefield, riding the air current and preparing to use a move that the Air Battle Master taught her. Suddenly, she dived down at Gallade who'd prepared for his Night Slash and leapt in the air to hit his opponent. But, Gliscor proved to be too fast for him yet again, slamming into the Blade Pokemon multiple times and escaping right before he could use Night Slash each time and lastly, she viciously rammed into Gallade, who couldn't do much other than take the full brunt of the perfectly use Acrobatics of Gliscor's.

The referee didn't need to observe Gallade for much long before he could call the match as swirls appeared in the Fighting-Type's eyes. "Gallade is unable to battle. Gliscor is the winner and the match goes to Ash from Pallet Town!" he declared, raising the green flag towards Ash.

"An amazing battle comes to an end and the better trainer advances to the next round of the Sinnoh League. Ash has shown us what a combination of speed and power can do in a Pokemon battle." The MC said of the match that just ended between Ash and Abel. "But let's hear it for Abel who's done so well to make it to the Top 32 of the Sinnoh League, which is an amazing feat in itself."

On queue, the entire stadium erupted with cheers, thanking both the participants for giving them an exceptional battle to remember. After the initial scare of Buizel was gone, Ash had clearly dominated the match and hence, the crowd went bonkers with most of the young boys and girls, who dreamt of becoming Pokemon trainers one day cheering as loud as they could. Battles like these just made the wait for receiving their first Pokemon even harsher for such kids.

On the field, Ash's Gliscor hugged her trainer in joy once again, earning a loud laugh from the spectators. On the other hand, Abel called back his Gallade with a disappointed look on his face.

"Hey Abel," Ash called out to his opponent with a smile as he walked towards him after recalling Gliscor in her Pokeball. "You were excellent out there." He complimented.

Abel was surprised with Ash's change in attitude but the shocked look on his face turned into an embarrassed one when he realized what Ash had done earlier was just to get the best out of him. He couldn't believe he was such an idiot to fall for one of the oldest tricks in the book.

"But you were better, man." Abel said as he shook hands with Ash. "You beat me fair and square and didn't even have to use all three Pokemon."

Ash placed a hand at the back of his head as he laughed lightly. "Well, let's battle again sometime."

The blonde boy from Sunyshore grinned and replied. "Sure. I'll make sure to make it interesting for you."

Ash made his way outside of the stadium, walking nonchalantly. Just then, he saw someone very interesting coming from the other direction. The purple haired teenage boy had his usual scorn on his face as he trekked past Ash through the passageway.

"Make sure you don't lose to anyone before battling me, Paul." Ash scoffed.

The statement made Paul stop in his tracks and turn back to stare at Ash, who didn't even bother to look back. "As if I would lose to pushovers like these."

The reply from Paul didn't come off as an unexpected one for Ash; he knew the guy well enough to know what he would say when asked such a question. The Pallet Town trainer just simpered a little as he left the battle arena.

* * *

"You were awesome as always, Ash!" Dawn praised her friend. She winked, sticking her tongue out and offering Ash a high five.

Ash high fived his blue-haired companion and replied. "Thanks, Dawn!"

"Both Gliscor and Floatzel have become really strong. Seems like their training has worked." Brock stated.

"The way Floatzel evolved was just awesome!" Barry shouted, moving his hands frantically to show exactly how he felt. Ash, Brock, Dawn as well as the two Pokemon, Pikachu and Piplup could only shake their heads at his comical behavior.

"Anyways," Ash started. "Lets get something to eat. I am kinda hungry since I haven't eaten anything since breakfast."

"Yeah, let's celebrate for you reaching the Top 16 of the Sinnoh League!" Dawn chimed, excitedly raising her arms. Her action caused the blue penguin from her arms to fall off on the ground.

"Piiiplup!" The Water-Type groaned. He folded his arms, and stared at his trainer angrily as a lump appeared on his forehead.

Ignoring Piplup's little rant, Barry pointed a finger at himself and questioned. "Dawn, what about the celebration for me reaching the Top 16?"

Her eyes narrowing, Dawn leaned forward. "Why in the world would we celebrate for your victory?" The blunette took a couple of steps forward, forcing Barry to take a couple of steps back and continued. "There.. is.. a.. difference.. between.. you.. and.. Ash, understand?" she raised her index finger against the blonde to explain the so called "difference" to him.

A look of absolute surprise crossed Barry's face when he heard that; his mouth remaining wide open in astonishment. "That's no fair!" he bellowed with a pout. "I am your friend too, am I not?" The trainer from Twinleaf Town questioned in hopes of getting a positive response. But, the silence building up for seconds didn't help his confidence; his knees and shoulders beginning to bend before his head slumped in dismay as well.

But, Ash, who was too hungry didn't want to deal with Barry's tirade right now and hence, decided to give him some assurance that he would still be his friend, no matter what. The raven-haired teenager placed a hand on Barry's shoulder and comforted him.

"Don't worry, Barry. We're your friends. It's just that we're too hungry to say it right now. Let's celebrate both your success in the Sinnoh League with a massive lunch."

The dismayed Barry finally raised his head, his eyes sparkling with new-found elation. "Really?!" he exclaimed before a few tears of joy formed in his eyes. "You are my only true friend, Ash. You are not like those backstabbers!" The boy pouted, glaring at the humans and Pokemon in the group save Ash, and then turned his face away.

With those words said and done, the group went to one of the premier restaurants in the Lily of the Valley island to have their lunch. As expected, Ash dug into the food, taking out every bit of fatigue that he felt after the intense fight. The afternoon flew by pretty quickly; Ash resting in his room along with Brock and Dawn.

* * *

The group waited for the huge TV screen in the battle stadium to reveal the match-ups for the Top 16 of the Lily of the Valley Conference. The last battle of Round 3 was won by Paul, which was the expected result from that match. The 16 participants to make it to the Top 16 included Tobias, Paul, Barry and of course, Ash among other, while Nando who'd made it to the Top 32 wasn't able to advance any further.

Soon, the computerized screen began to shuffle the images of the 16 trainers. The images came to a standstill as the match-ups for the next round of the League came into view. The reduced number of trainer images meant that Ash was able to find his opponent pretty soon and the guy was none other than Barry.

'I had to fight someone. If it's Barry, then so be it." Ash thought to himself, glancing around the vicinity with nothing in particular in mind. That's when his eyes met with Tobias's. The two gazed into each other's eyes for a few moments before Tobias smirked at Ash; something which Ash didn't really feel to glad about. The way the caped Darkrai trainer looked at Ash didn't really give him a good feeling. It made him frown at Tobias, who realized the building tension and walked away without any further actions.

* * *

**So, how was the chapter? I would like if you gjuys could tell me about it in the reviews. And as I mentioned in the earlier announcement, I was facing a major writing block and that was due to me unable to add anything to the plot before the battle in this chapter began. Thinking continuosly about that stopped me from writing this story for over a month and then I watched the leagues in the anime just to see what kind of thing they did between battles and guess what I found out? There's hardly anything of substance in between league battles. **

**Now, I remember a query from last chapter was about Larvitar being slower than Dusknoir. That would be generally the case, but I did mention that Conway's Dusknoir was trained in order to use Trick Room, which means that things like Pokemon nature and some heavy power training that drains speed could come in.**

**Anyways, thanks for reading and I hope you sweet people stick around for the next chapter, which I intend to upload soon.**


	6. Casting an Ash on Barry!

_**Casting an Ash on Barry!**_

* * *

**Hello once again, my sweet readers. Here I am with another chapter of my story and I hope that I didn't kept you waiting too long.**

**Anyways, nothing much to say here; I am too tired for that so you guys can hop on to the chapter. **

**I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

The sun shone brightly and it was scorching hot, making the season of summer evident. In an open, grassy field, a green turtle-like Pokemon with trees on the back of its massive shell raised its front legs, banging them on the ground. The force that the continent Pokemon rammed the earth with caused the nearby ground to tremble and instantly, the ground in front of the Pokemon rose high; a rocky wall being created as a result.

From the right of Torterra, a smaller blue turtle Pokemon gaped its mouth open and fired a massive blast of pure blue water, directed right at the rocky wall that'd just been made. Simultaneously, a red crustacean Pokemon with a tan underside and a massive star-like growth on its head leapt towards the rocky structure. Both its claws covered with spiraling water around them, the Water-Type Pokemon smacked the wall with the most strength it could gather.

The result of Squirtle's and Crawdaunt's simultaneous attack was the destruction of half the wall produced by Torterra's Rock Climb. First, Squirtle's Hydro Pump took out the uppermost part of the rock, also softening it in the process. Then, the strikes by Crawdaunt's Crabhammer took out most of the soothed rock wall.

"Squir Squirtle!" The little Turtle Pokemon said to his Pokemon friends; showing them a thumbs up.

"Daunt Craw!" The Rogue Pokemon too happily cheered at his successful teamwork.

"Torrrrrterra!" Torterra roared, acknowledging his friends' hard work.

Their trainer, resting under a tree nearby glanced at his Pokemon after he heard their calls. A smile appeared on his face upon the sight of the demolished rock summoned by his Sinnoh Grass-Type, Torterra.

"Good work, Torterra, Squirtle and Crawdaunt!" The raven haired-trained said. "You should rest for a while."

After hearing Ash, the three Pokemon responded to their master with their cries of joy. All three sat down on the ground, obliging with their trainer's suggestion of taking a rest. They had been training for hours now and even though they didn't want to show it, they were tired, having to fire multiple of their attacks while training.

Next, Ash turned his head to have a look at the remaining three of his Pokemon on the other side of the field. The three Pokemon that trained with each other were Ash's Pikachu, Quilava and Bayleef. From the looks of it, it seemed as if they were trying to increase their resistance to the type they were already strong against; so that they would take even lesser damage than they normally would. First, it was Pikachu using his Electric-Type moves against Bayleef, who attempted to deflect all of it with the huge leaf on her head. Next, Bayleef fired pointed, sharp leaves from the leaf growing out of her head at her fellow Johto region starter, Quilava. The Fire-Type didn't try to dodge the Razor Leaf; instead just igniting the fire on his back and taking the Grass-Type attack head on.

Ash stood up on his feet and walked toward the three Pokemon who were still giving it their all. His footsteps got the attention of all the three Pokemon, who stopped their training and turned to look at their trainer. When he reached them, he bent down and petted his Quilava and Bayleef; the yellow rodent making his way on his usual spot at Ash's shoulder.

"You guys should take a break too." Ash said. Pikachu rubbed his cheek against his trainer while Quilava and Bayleef smiled and howled their names, showing their undying affection Ash.

* * *

She looked up at the sky; it was shining brightly; it was hot and she felt the heat, which was made clear by the few drops of sweat dripping down her fair, slender neck. She normally didn't sweat much, but even she was be affected by the heat here at this island after roaming around it for more than an hour. Add to that, it was afternoon, which made it even worse for her. But, what could she do? She was bored; the day was off for the Sinnoh League and with nothing to entertain her, she could undoubtedly say that it was the most boring day for her during the entire Sinnoh League.

As Cynthia trekked a little more, - deciding that it would be best for her if she went back to her hotel – she heard loud noises, which probably came from somewhere close. A couple more of such sounds and the Champion of Sinnoh made up her mind to check it out; after all, she had nothing better to do anyway.

It didn't take the blonde girl long to get closer to the source of all the noise, which she figured must be because of someone either having Pokemon battle or training. Well, maybe that could entertain her for a while, or at least that's what she hoped for. A minute more of walking and a clear field came into view, where she saw three Pokemon resting. But the real surprise for her came when she noticed some other Pokemon from the corner of her eye. However, that wasn't what caught her attention; it was the boy kneeling beside the other three Pokemon who did.

Before going forward, she glanced around just to see if anyone was around and to her delight, the only ones in the vicinity aside from her were the boy and his Pokemon. 'Perfect!' she mused ever so happily. Her tedious day was just about to transform into an eventful one; her persistence of travelling through the island in this burning heat finally being rewarded with the best prize she could hope for.

Cynthia made her way into the field; passing Torterra, Squirtle and Crawdaunt in the way. The three noticed her but they recognized her as their trainer's friend, finding it unnecessary to get their trainer's attention. A devious smile appeared on Cynthia's features as she got closer and closer to Ash, tip-toeing the rest of the small way towards the boy.

"Hello, Cynthia!" Ash greeted, not even turning back to look at the blonde-haired Champion.

Started completely, Cynthia appeared to be astonished; she made sure not to make too much noise while coming here but she noted that she failed.

"Hi, Ash!" she greeted back. When the raven-haired boy turned around, she added. "How did you know I was here?"

Ash's lips twitched a little to both sides of his mouth before he replied. "I saw you walking near the bushes. I decided not to call you because I thought you might be busy and I didn't want to waste any of your time. You are the Champion of Sinnoh, after all."

Cynthia sighed. "I wish I was busy today," She said. "I wouldn't have to walk around the island just because I was bored. And, spending some time with you will never be a waste for me."

"I am happy to hear that." Ash said as a genuine smile made its way to his face.

"I assume you were training with your Pokemon here?" she asked.

"Yea!" Ash replied. "There are still a couple of days left before my Top 16 battle so I thought it might be worth it to have a bit of training in the morning." The boy stood up from the ground, dusting his jeans of the dirt. "It's very hot today. Let's sit under that tree." He pointed his index finger behind Cynthia's shoulder, at the tree under which he laid until just a few minutes ago.

Cynthia nodded and the two walked towards their destination but a small problem arouse for Ash; he was stopped due to his right hand being tugged onto by a long, green wine. Forced to turn around, Ash couldn't figure out why Bayleef appeared to be kind of pissed.

"What is it, Bayleef?" The amber-eyed teen asked his Leaf Pokemon.

After a few moments of gritting her teeth in rage, the Grass-Type yelled in displeasure. "Bay Bay!"

A confused look appeared on Ash's face, being unable to comprehend why his Bayleef would stop him from heading back towards the tree. He stepped back towards his Leaf Pokemon, petting her head. "We both will train together later. You should rest for a little while, Bayleef." He told his Pokemon with a smile.

Reluctantly, Bayleef pulled her wines back, staring down at the ground. As she tapped her foor on the ground in frustration, Quilava and Pikachu walked up to her, in order to ask her the problem. After the three chatted for a while in Pokespeech, Bayleef finally gave in and laid her body on the ground to let out the tiredness she felt after the intense resistance training she'd been doing with her friends.

The first thing Ash did at the instant he reached the huge tree was lay down on the grass with his back against the tree trunk. He let out a sigh escape his mouth; that was just how much better he felt laying on the cool grass and under the shadow of the tree that being out there in the searing heat. He closed his eyes for a few moments, feeling drowsy, clearly showing the fatigue of the hard work that he too, had put in while training his Pokemon.

Cynthia, who still watched Ash, standing besides his resting body eventually sat down beside him. At that moment, she realized why Ash was in such a trance; the fresh grass and the cool breeze blowing through the field felt wonderful, more so after one had spent time in the hot, sunny day.

* * *

Ash's eyes started to open slowly, his vision starting off as blurry so he closed them again. But then, he wondered what the soft sensation he felt on his face was. He opened his eyes once again, this time he did so in one go and what he found surprised him. He looked around and he noticed that just like him, all his Pokemon too were fast asleep. But the way he was sleeping made his cheeks go slightly red.

The trainer from Pallet Town had his head rested on Cynthia's lap; the Champion having her hand around Ash's neck and the fluffy sensation he felt was of Cynthia's blonde hair falling on his face. Ash didn't move much; instead just checked whether Cynthia was asleep and true enough, she was, fast asleep in fact with a grin on her pretty face, which looked even prettier up close; Ash noted.

But the fact that he was in such a position didn't bring any comfort to him; he was dense but wasn't ignorant. Ash slowly crept out of Cynthia's lap, careful enough not to disturb her slumber. Once he did so, he realized that he didn't have his hat on. He searched for it around and finally found it next to Cynthia but before he put the hat on, he ran a hand through his hair to find out that they weren't in the state they usually were. His hair seemed somehow well set; like someone had combed it with their hands. And there could only be one person who could've done it. However, he was too hungry to think about that right now so he walked towards his sleeping Pokemon and without waking them up either, called all of them except Pikachu inside their Pokeballs. But, due to his pillow, Quilava disappearing, the rodent's face fell on the ground, waking him up in the process.

"Pikaaa…." The Electric-Type mouse groaned, rubbing his eyes. He was having such a nice sleep and someone had to wake him up. Pikachu rubbed his right cheek, the one he'd fallen upon and he grunted, feeling a little bit of pain. He did fall from some height – him on Quilava - who slept on Torterra's back.

"How did you sleep, Pikachu?" Ash asked, looking up at the sky which was beginning to get orange.

"Pika chu Pika!" he chimed happily, the pain on his cheek apparently vanishing when asked about the amazing nap he had.

Ash, too smiled; he too had a really good sleep, albeit he was still a little embarrassed of the position he slept in. "It's going get dark soon. Let's go back." He suggested and rubbed his stomach. "I am hungry. I can't believe we were all asleep for so long."

"Pika Pika." Pikachu nodded, jumping up on Ash's shoulder.

As Ash heard footsteps in the silent surrounding, he turned around and noticed that Cynthia had awakened. His lips made a few movements; he'd never seen Cynthia like this before, ever. Cynthia's long and beautiful hair that charmed many a men were all around the place; in front of her face as well as on the side of her shoulders. After some time, as Cynthia neared, Ash couldn't hold his laughter anymore, bursting out in front of the confused Cynthia.

"Why are you laughing?" Cynthia questioned, unaware that her bedhead had been revealed to the last person she would want seeing her in that state. Getting no reply from the still laughing Ash, she leaned forward. "What's the matter, Ash? Do I look like a zombie for you to laugh like that?"

The answer that Cynthia expected never came since Ash could only nod and say. "Yes!"

The response she got made her freeze in shock; was what Ash said true? How could that be possible? She remembered that she'd combed her hair just like she usually did?... Then, it struck her; her hair stuck out in front of her face, her shoulders and all the other places where she wouldn't want them to go.

A moment later, she calmed herself down, letting out a long breath; she realized she shouldn't behave like this even if her hair were in such bad condition. After all, she had her title as Champion, which she didn't want to be disgraced. But more importantly, she didn't want Ash to think that she could be this frantic; she would be showing Ash this sight of her hair one day – in her dreams at least - and if that day turned out to be today, it didn't matter.

But suddenly, what she least expected at this point of time, happened. It was Ash, who started to put together her hair. Cynthia was left dumbfounded, her eyes wide open and mouth agape; she didn't expect this of Ash.

"I think that's at least better than what they looked like a minute ago." Ash thought out loud, placing a hand on his chin.

"How?... Did you groom my hair?" Cynthia asked. She couldn't believe that Ash would ever arrange her hair and when she moved her hand around them, she felt as if they were the same when she first combed them in the morning.

Ash simply smiled. "I was just returning the favor, nothing more." He replied, removing his hat off of his head. "You did do a job with my hair so I thought it was only right for me to do the same, wouldn't you agree?"

No response from Cynthia for almost a minute caused Ash to let out a simper; the blonde was really shaken by what Ash had done to her hair and he too, understood that. He would have loved to stay in the field -that had cooled down- a while longer but his stomach told him to do otherwise. Unable to hold his hunger for any longer, Ash took the staggered Cynthia's hand in his own and made his way out of the field, deciding to have some well-deserved snack for him as well as his Pokemon, who he figured must also be starving.

* * *

The two off days for between the rounds in the Sinnoh League passed by pretty quickly with not much action happening on the island, mostly due to thefact that only 16 participants remained in the Lily of the Valley Conference.

The evening before the first match of Round 4 of the League was cool and breezy, making a certain black-haired participant walk through the road to the Pokemon Center in bliss. Like he did a couple of days earlier, Ash again did some training with his Pokemon;although the training he did couldn't be called normal by any means. According to Ash, his Pokemon were all in as good a shapeas they'd ever been and he didn't want any of them to overexert themselves during training. His training in these few days mostly included meditation – in order to heighten his Pokemon's senses- , remaining calm even under the toughest of situations and a short burst of combinations of dodging and attacking. Seldom did he tell his Pokemon to use their moves against each other in these last two days; and even when he did, it was for a move that they had learnt recently.

Also, Ash hadn't spent too much time with other humans – namely Dawn and Brock– in the past couple of days; being out in the fields with his Pokemon all day long; and when he used to come back, he'd be too tired to talk much with them. However, today, he wasn't tired at all and the reason for that was simple – he was pretty excited for his battle with Barry, which was the first Round 4.

* * *

Upon reaching the Pokemon Center, Ash made his way to the first place that he thought he could find his friends– The Cafeteria. Much to his surprise, they weren't there. The amber-eyed boy glanced at the clock and he was certain that he would find Dawn and Brock at the Cafeteria at this point of time.

He shrugged, deciding to have a meal while he was there. Minutes passed after Ash finished devouring his food but there was still no sign of them. "Where could those two be?" he questioned himself.

"Pika Pikachuu!" The yellow rodent perched up on his shoulder too looked around in a futile attempt to find his companions.

"Lets search for them on the next floor." Ash suggested in reply to which, his Electric mouse nodded his head.

Quickly, the two advanced to the next floor, which had shops of different kinds, all relating to Pokemon. Also, one of the things present on the first floor was the hall in which, a trainer could check out records and stats of other trainers participating in the Sinnoh League. Ash made a hunch that his friends might be there and it turned out that he was right at the moment he entered it and saw Dawn, Brock, Conway and Barry and Paul surrounding a couple of computers in a corner.

"Hey guys!" Ash called out to them, getting their attention immediately. "I have been searching everywhere for you." He finished, walking next to them and glancing at the screens and finding that in one of them was his profile page and in the other, it was Barry's.

The first to answer Ash was Brock. "We were just looking at your and Barry's trainer profiles. The data is accurate for the most part but it seems like its incomplete."

Ash raised an eyebrow at the last statement of Brock's. "Incomplete?"

"Brock told me that not all your Pokemon are included here. Only the Pokemon that you've used in your previous Leagues and the ones you've revealed in this league are shown." Dawn explained, raising her index finger.

A serious expression appeared on Ash's face after he thought about what Dawn just said. He remained silent for quite a few seconds before finally speaking up. "So that means that because this is the first time Tobias has participated in an official Pokemon League, we won't know about any of Tobias' other Pokemon until he uses them in the Sinnoh League."

"Yes, that's correct, Ash. We did visit Tobias' page and the only Pokemon that we found on it was his Darkrai." Conway said, adjusting his glasses, showing his devilish grin to everyone, without any doubts, creeping them out.

Meanwhile, the blue-haired girl in the group moved closer to Ash and asked. "So Ash, how did your training go today?"

Ash replied instantly. "It went well," he paused and looked at Barry with a smirk. "All my Pokemon are ready for the battle tomorrow."

"Have you decided which Pokemon you are going to use tomorrow?" Brock questioned his friend.

Nonchalantly putting his hands in his pockets, Ash replied. "Of course. My team for this battle was decided the moment the match-ups for the round got revealed."

What Ash said just now couldn't be taken lightly by a certain blonde trainer from Twinleaf Town; Barry's eyes were left agape when he heard Ash. He couldn't believe that Ash was already prepared for their battle from the very beginning; or was it that against him, Ash didn't need a change of plans? Barry wondered if Ash believed that he could win against him without any plan, specifically made for him. Then, what was all the training he did was for? Was he already preparing for the later rounds of the competition?

All these sorts of questions jumbled inside Barry's mind; he just felt an uneasy feeling from the way Ash talked just then. The confidence in the raven-haired boy's tone made him feel as if he'd already lost to Ash even before the on-field battle had begun.

Barry frantically shook his head a few times in order to shake these thoughts off his mind. Clenching his fists, he assured himself that he would be fine against Ash if he battled to the best of his ability. He just had to give it his all on the battlefield, that was all that was needed. Even though he tried to think as positive as possible, he couldn't let up that little feeling inside of his mind; the way Ash looked at him that time scared him.

"You're not going to win against me like that Ash!" Barry yelled, showing a boxing-like stance and grinning at his Top 16 opponent. "You'll need to get your best Pokemon to even stand a chance against me." he advanced a few steps further, getting his usual self back little by little.

"We'll have to see about that now, don't we?" Ash just turned his head to the side with a provoking smile.

* * *

The field was clear; the crowd was loud and the sun was shining just as usual; it was time for the first match of the Top 16 of the Lily of the Valley Conference to commence and you could just feel the excitement just by hearing the buzz around the stadium. The referee took his positition in the middle of the battlefield and raised both the green and red flags in the air.

"The first match of Round 4 of the Sinnoh League, between Ash from Pallet Town and Barry from Twinleaf Town is about to begin. It will be a 4-on-4 battle and both the trainers are allowed to substitute Pokemon. Barry will get the first move of this battle." He brought both the flags down at once and finished. "Begin!"

On one side, Barry had a defiant smile on his face as he pointed his Pokeball forward. "If you thought that you'd have an easy time battling me Ash, you're in for a huge surprise. That's because I am getting stronger every second of every minute of every hour of every day!" he yelled enthusiastically, making everyone in the stadium laugh at his buffoonery. "You might think your Pokemon are strong enough to beat me of the past, but that doesn't count at this point of time." He pulled his arm backwards, rotated 360 degrees and fired his Pokeball on the field after his lively speech. "Heracross, I choose you!"

On the other side of the field, Ash just remained calm and smiled. He too, had his Pokeball ready in his arm as he threw it on the field without any sort of action like Barry's. "Bulbasaur, I choose you!"

Both the Pokeball landed on the ground, shining out open and revealing the first Pokemon of both the participants. Ash's Bulbasaur looked as good as ever and Barry's Heracross too was as cheerful and merry as his trainer.

"Bulbasauur!" Bulbasaur cried out his name.

"Heracrooooak!" Heracross buzzed, landing on the ground after it took a small initial flight.

"So, the first battle of this year's Sinnoh League's Top 16 will be between Bulbasaur and Heracross. Let's see what they entertainment they'll provide us with." The MC spoke for the first time in the match, his voice loud enough that every spectator heard him and began to cheer, showing their absolute support.

Barry didn't want to waste the chance to get a lead that he got due to the coin toss. He pointed his index finger forwards and commanded. "Heracross, lets start strong with Megahorn!"

The said Pokemon spread out its wings and took flight. As it lunged towards Bulbasaur, its horn glowed bright yellow and became even larger than it already was; the Bug and Fighting-Type lowered its horn as it closed in on its opponent with a decent amount of speed. However, Bulbasaur had been watching every move made by Heracross closely and hence was able to jump at the last second to avoid the Megahorn; even without his trainer giving him a single order.

Barry gritted his teeth in annoyance of missing his best opportunity to push Ash back. But, he wasn't about to give in just yet; his Heracross's biggest advantage was its great physical strength and the blonde trainer wanted to rely on it to get win this battle.

"Use Fury Attack!" he instructed his Big horn Pokemon.

The Beetle nodded and commenced its move; flying towards its foe once again in hopes of hitting the target this time. Similar to Megahorn, it lowered its horn again and tried to hit Bulbasaur multiple times in a row. And like the last attack, Bulbasaur got out of the way of each and every one of them, taking no damage whatsoever in the battle so far.

"Bulbasaur, use Leech Seed." Ash said at the instant that Heracross stopped its Fury Attack, not moving from his initial position.

Showing great agility after hearing his trainer's order, Bulbasaur quickly pointed his bulb towards Heracross who couldn't get away in time. The bulb on the Grass-Type's back shone for a sort instant before a seed got fired out of it, hitting Heracross and strangling it into the vines that grew out of the seed. Heracross groaned as the seed glowed red, draining it of a little of its energy.

"No, Heracross!" Barry shouted in concern. He understood the effects of Leech Seed very well and knew that he needed to finish this battle quickly; before his Pokemon ran out of stamina.

"Amazing folks!" The commentator gasped in astonishment. "With his Heracross leeched, Barry better not let this fight last too long because that will just help Ash's Bulbasaur recover from any damage it might take in the battle!"

"Bulbasaur, use Razor Leaf!" Ash commanded, taking charge for the first time in this battle.

The Bulb Pokemon quickly obeyed, called his name and summoned razor sharp leaves from his bulb. Without wasting any times, he aimed it at Heracross and the move was so swiftly executed that Heracross didn't have enough time to dodge all the leaves even at a distance; some of them doing damage to it which was made clear by a few bruises it got on its body.

"Are you alright, Heracross?" Barry asked the Big Horn Pokemon, concern clear in his orange eyes. Even though Heracross hadn't taken any major damage yet, the way this battle was going worried even the carefree Barry. When the blonde got a nod from his Pokemon which retreated to his side of the field, the Sinnoh native trainer called another attack. "Good. A Grass-Type like Bulbasaur should be weak against Flying-Type moves. Now, quickly get closer to Bulbasaur and use Aerial Ace!"

"Dodge it Bulbasaur!" Ash told his Leaf Pokemon upon hearing Barry, not wanting his Pokemon to suffer damage from a Super-Effective move like Aerial Ace.

Heracross extended its wings and its body became surrounded by white streaks of energy as it flew closer and closer to Bulbasaur. The Bulb Pokemon attempted to dodge as his trainer told him to but the speed that Heracross gained at the last moment surprised Bulbasaur leaving him unable to defend. Heracross struck Bulbasaur dead on the belly, earning a loud cry of pain from the Kanto starter.

Pikachu who stood next to Ash on the trainer's box grimaced seeing one of his oldest friends being pushed back by Heracross' power filled Aerial Ace, which apparently did a lot of damage to him.

"And Barry is back in the contest after that Super-Effective move!" The MC commented loudly. "It will be interesting to see if Barry can take advantage of this strike."

"Heracross, use Megahorn quick!" Barry yelled excitedly; the opportunity of doing a lot of damage while Bulbasaur was still recovering was too much for Barry to miss out.

"Endure it Bulbasaur! I know you can take the hit." Ash confidently said.

Wasting no time, Heracross charged towards the shaken up Bulbsaur with its horn shining golden-yellow. Meanwhile, Bulbasaur got back his senses and braced himself for the incoming hit, which was the best option if he was unable to dodge. Heracross hit Bulbasaur firmly, jamming his horn into Bulbasaur's head, scoring a critical hit. But, Bulbasaur wasn't one to be taken out so easily; he used Razor Leaf at close range to force Heracross to withdraw. Also, the vines of Leech Seed around Heracross glowed again, draining some of its energy and healing Bulbasaur at the same time.

Ash clenched his fists after Bulbasaur took the attack; Barry's Heracross was really strong but he had full confidence that his Bulbasaur was stronger. He had full faith in his first Grass-Type Pokemon; he knew that he could rely on The Bulb Pokemon to come through and compared to what he had taken, Ash understood that this was nothing.

"Now use Sludge Bomb, Bulbasaur!" Ash ordered; he now wanted to go on the offensive and what better time to do so after the opponent has just finished its move.

His front paws lowered and bulb pointed towards Heracross, Bulbasaur rapidly fired a glob of brown sludge at the Beetle Pokemon. Unable to dodge the Sludge Bomb, Heracross got struck by it and at the exact moment of impact, the bomb exploded leaving purple, poison-like smoke around the struck Heracross.

"No no no!" Barry yelled, pulling his blonde hair in aggravation. "Heracross, attack with Double Edge now!"

"Hera crooak!" The beetle buzzed and charged recklessly towards its opponent, with the same cheerful look on its face, the one which it wore all the time.

As soon as Ash heard Barry's latest call, he smirked; he'd been waiting for his chance to get a big hit in and this seemed like the best opportunity. "Wait for it to come to you and," Ash paused and waited for Heracross to come closer and finally finished. "use Vine Whip to stop it in its tracks!"

"Bulba!" The Grass-Type starter from Kanto shouted, leapt up in the air and shot his vines at the ferocious Heracross that attempted to crush him with Double Edge. The control that Bulbasaur showed with his vines astonished everyone as he caught Heracross's legs in his grip, forcing the Pokemon to fall on the ground and fail the attack.

And this was when Ash decided to use Bulbasaur's ultimate move. "Finish this with Frenzy Plant!"

A look of utter terror appeared on Barry's face when he heard Ash command; even he understood that such a move posed even if it wasn't very effective. "Get out of there, Heracross!" he shouted as loud as he could, his voice completely panic-stricken.

Meanwhile, Bulbasaur landed on the ground, his body becoming outline with green aura. Soon, he slammed both his front legs on the ground, sending energy waves underground and it wasn't long before giant, spiky roots came out of the ground and smashed into Heracross, completely obliterating the target.

"Crooaaaaakk!" The Big Horn Pokemon cried out in pain as it was sent flying backwards. It came to a stop upon crashing into the cemented boundary of the battlefield, falling on the ground eventually, with swirls in its eyes.

"Heracross is unable to continue. Therefore, the first round goes to Ash!" The referee announced, raising the green flag towards Ash.

"And Ash takes the first battle here. I can't say I am surprised about it; he did enter the battle as the favorite because of the almost flawless battle style and strategy that he's shown us throughout the tournament!" The MC said.

* * *

In the stands, Brock and Dawn had satisfied smiles on their faces after Bulbasaur defeated Barry's Heracross. They were cheering for Ash, of course; so a win for him would definitely make them happy.

"When Heracross hit Bulbasaur with Aerial Ace and Horn Attack, I thought Ash might actually lose that round." Dawn sighed in relief, not moving her gaze from the battlefield. "I didn't know Ash's Bulbasaur was this strong!"

Brock turned to face his blue-haired friend and raised his forefinger. "Bulbasaur is one of the first Pokemon Ash caught so it has a lot of experience. Not to mention that he works really hard; that's why he's able to manage all of the Pokemon at Professor Oak's lab. He is like their caretaker, one of the most mature Pokemon I have ever seen. But to top it all off, he is very strong and even though he's strong enough to evolve and become a Venusaur, he rejects evolution. That's just his way of keeping his honor as a Grass-Type Pokemon." The tan-skinned adult elaborated for Dawn, explaining everything about Bulbasuar in brief. "Barry's Heracross wasn't weak by any means; an average Heracross' strength is very high and I know that Barry has trained his well. But Ash's Bulbasaur isn't a Pokemon that can be defeated by a normal Pokemon."

"I can't even imagine how strong he could become as a Venusaur." Dawn pondered in thought, placing a finger on her chin.

"Pi Pipluuup!" The Penguin stood up from Dawn's lap and folded his arms; his eyes shine as he thought of himself becoming as strong as Bulbasaur without evolving.

* * *

Recalling Heracross back to its Pokeball, Barry had a dry smile on his face. "You were awesome as always, Heracross. I will make sure that your hard work doesn't go to waste." The blonde trainer changed his Pokeballs; unclipping his second Pokeball from his belt. The trainer enlarged it and threw it on the field. "Lets quickly finish this. Alright then Hitmonlee, let's get going!"

The Pokeball snapped open on Barry's side of the field and out of it came a Pokemon with primarily brown body having two almond-shaped eyes; it also had cream-colored segmented arms and legs with three claws and three toes.

"Hitmonleee!" The Kicking Pokemon roared.

"Hitmonlee, let's show everyone how fast you are; use High Jump Kick!" Barry ordered hastily.

Immediately, The Kicking Pokemon jumped high in the air with great agility and descended at Bulbasaur with his left knee bent. The speed at which Hitmonlee attacked surprised Bulbasaur, who took the High Jump Kick right on the head.

"Bulbaaa!" The Leaf Pokemon cried.

"Are you alright, Bulbasaur?" Ash asked. This was the first time that he seemed concerned in this battle against Barry. He turned his look at Barry and his Hitmonlee, who had retreated back to his trainer's side. "Your Hitmonlee is really fast, Barry." Ash complimented with a smile. "I am confident that my Bulbasaur can take it but I also want to give my other Pokemon a chance." He raised Bulbasaur's Pokeball and recalled his Grass-Type.

"What?" Barry bawled in confusion. "Why did you call back Bulbasaur?"

"Well, I just wanted to give my other Pokemon a shot in the battle." Ash answered without any hesitation in his tone. Appearing completely sure of himself and what he was doing. He threw his next Pokeball in the air to reveal his second Pokemon. "Go, Noctowl!"

After the red light of the Pokeball died down, a golden-colored Noctowl took flight on Ash's side.

"Brrrr!" The owl Pokemon chirped as it showed her magnificent shiny color to the crowd; the entire stadium cheering the sight of the rarely seen shiny Pokemon.

"Wow!" Barry gasped. "Your Noctowl's a different shiny colour, Ash!" he said in admiration of the Pokemon.

Ash smiled at Barry. "Yeah, it is. And I'll show you that its colour is not the only thing different about my Noctowl." The raven-haired teen said.

After a few moments of thinking, Barry came to the realization that his hitmonlee wasn't the best Pokemon to face a Flying-Type like Noctowl. Hence, he pointed Hitmonlee's Pokeball towards him. "Hitmonlee, return!"

A genuinely serious expression seemed to have been glued on Barry's face for a brief amount of time as he thought of the Pokemon to use next. He had three Pokemon left while Ash had all four of his Pokemon; he concluded that he needed to get a lead in this round but he also realized that he just couldn't go all out here without knowing the identity of Ash's remaining two Pokemon.

Ash scratched his head seeing Barry so deep in thought; he never imagined that he would see Barry think so much in a Pokemon battle.

A look at Ash's Noctowl again and Barry unclipped a Pokeball from his belt, jumped in the air and tossed it on the field. The ball opened up and showed Barry's third Pokemon to the stadium. It was a bipedeal Pokemon, resembling a cross between cat and mongoose, with predominantly white fur and red scar-like markings on the face and chest.

"Zangooose!" The cat ferret Pokemon yelped.

"Noctowl, lets start with Air Slash!" Ash commanded.

The Owl Pokemon twittered and pulled its wings back, which glowed bright blue. Noctowl then flapped its wings created multiple round, saw disc-like energy energy blades from the wind, aiming each and every one of them right at its foe.

"Dodge it, Zangoose!" Barry cried out quickly.

Zangoose got out of the way of the Air Slash attack, jumping up in the air effectively evading Noctowl's Flying-Type move; or so he and everyone else thought. But, they were all surprised when the Air Slash changed its course in mid-air and struck the Normal-Type Cat Pokemon on the back. Zangoose cried in pain after taking the surprise hit, which left several bruises on the many impacts that it made.

"But Zangoose dodged that!" Barry yelled in astonishment, frantically raising his arms and bringing them down in one, thorough motion. "How did the Air Slash change directions and come back to hit Zangoose?"

At the question Barry posed, Ash smirked with pride. "My Noctowl can also use a few Psychic-Type moves and its so efficient in using them that it's almost like Noctowl has become a Psychic-Type itself. Manipulating its own move with its psychic powers is nothing to Noctowl." He explained to Barry, as well as everyone in the stadium who couldn't believe what they saw. The way Noctowl changed the course of the Air Slash was so smooth and sound that it kept the people wondering if the attack Noctowl use was some kind of a boomerang.

"That was a sensational attack from Ash's Noctowl folks. How many more surprises does Ash have up his sleeve?" The MC said loudly, his excitement and enthusiasm of the Pokemon battle clearly evident in his tone. "Only time will tell."

A look of concern crossed Barry's face as he ordered Zangoose's first attack.. "Use Fury Swipes, Zangoose."

Hearing its trainer, Zangoose ran on all fours and closed in on Noctowl, showcasing its amazing speed. It then leapt up in the air to reach Noctowl's height and attempted to swipe Noctowl multiple times but all in vain as the Owl Pokemon evaded every slash Zangoose made, proving that it was much better than Zangoose in a battle in the air.

"Noctowl, use Extrasensory." Ash told his Pokemon.

With its opponent right beneath it, Noctowl eyed Zangoose keenly and soon, its eyes glowed golden and it released multi-colored waves of psychic energy from its beak, which surrounded it's opponent. The Cat Furret Pokemon struggled to get out of Extrasensory's hold but failed miserably as Noctowl lifted it up and slammed it onto the ground.

"Zaaaan goose!" Zangoose screamed in pain, shakily getting up using all four of its legs.

"Zangoose.!" Barry mumbled, worried about the health of his Normal-Type Pokemon. As he saw Zangoose standing up even after taking those hits, a smile crept up to the trainer's face. "Can you keep going, Zangoose?" he questioned.

The nod that he received from the Hoenn-native Pokemon made him glad; not just because it could continue on battling but just to know that Zangoose hadn't suffered anything major.

He pointed his forefinger towards Noctowl and shouted. "It's time for some payback. Use Crush Claw!"

"Use Sky Attack, Noctowl!" Ash calmly said.

Noctowl commenced its attack, its eyebrow tufts glowing bright white as it flew into the air to prepare for the move. Meanwhile, Zangoose ran on all fours with amazing speed and then suddenly leapt up in the air as its claws glowed with blueish-white aura with sparks surrounding them. In almost no time, it reached Noctowl who was preparing for the Sky Attack and slashed its claws into the Flying-Type Pokemon.

At the time of impact, Noctowl cried out loud as pain surged throughout its body and it went thrashing to the ground due to the sheer power of Zangoose's move. The effect of Crush Claw disrupted the Sky Attack that Noctowl was preparing for, rendering the time it used up to be useless.

"Has Barry found a way to turn the tables on Ash?" The MC questioned.

"Yes, I have." Barry spoke with newfound confidence, the energy and spirit that he'd lost due to being on the defensive replenishing due to that one attack that Zangoose managed to pull off. He now believed that he had a chance of winning, no matter how slim it was.

"Use Crush Claw again!" The golden-eyes trainer ordered.

But even after his Noctowl had suffered a major blow from the same attack, Ash didn't look concerned in the least. "Noctowl, fly up high and use Sky Attack one more time." He commanded.

As it was told, Noctowl flew up in the air and this time, it ascended much higher than its normal flight height. When the Normal and Flying-Type thought that the height was safe enough, it prepared for its Sky Attack once again. Zangoose's claws surged with bluish-white energy again as it vaulted in the air again. But the more distance the goose Pokemon had to cover meant that Noctowl had more time to charge for its attack. And that factored into the battle when a Noctowl glowing with bluish energy descended towards Zangoose who appeared to have a look of pure shock, not expecting Noctowl to finish so quickly.

Of course, Noctowl flying down had the advantage and that clearly showed when the owl pummeled into Zangoose's gut. Noctowl accompanied Zangoose on the descend, increasing its speed but just before they hit the earth, Noctowl pulled out, leaving only Zangoose eating the dust.

A loud bark could be heard after Zangoose hit the ground. Barry feared for the worst and his nightmare came true when he saw the faited body of his Zangoose lying on the ground with swirls covering its eyes.

"Zangoose is unable to continue, Noctowl wins!" The referee declared and raised the green flag towards Ash once again.

"And Ash has got 2 wins while Barry has none. This is so far turning out to be an extremely one-sided battle." The MC commented of the battle. "Nonetheless, it's been an entertaining one so far. Lets ope it continues!"

With a sigh, Barry recalled his Zangoose back to its Pokeballs. He was starting to lose hopes of winning this battle against Ash after each strike that the raven-haired trainer's Pokemon afflicted on his own.

"You were great out there, Zangoose. Rest up." Barry said with a smile, which showed pride but also, a hint of disappointment that he couldn't win the battle with his Zangoose. But, whatever the result, he'd decided to give it his all and if he was going to go down in this match, he would go down fighting.

Barry looked across the field at Ash with eyes filled with determination to do his best, removing the next Pokeball from his belt and tossing it on the ground. "Hitmonlee, you're up next!"

In front of Barry materialized his Kicking Pokemon for the second time in the match. Hitmonlee shouted his name and kicked the air, sending some light shockwaves around the field, showing himself to be ready for another crack against Ash's Pokemon.

"And Hitmonlee is back again. Its speed in its first bout was amazing. It'll be really interesting to see how Ash counters that speed." The commentator said.

"Noctowl, use Shadow Ball." Ash commanded calmly, standing firmly on his side of the field; not the least bit affected by the speed that Hitmonlee just showcased in his pre-battle warm up.

"Hitmonlee, use Brick Break!" Barry yelled exuberantly.

The Owl Pokemon raised its wings above its head, forming a purple-black orb of ghostly energy between them. At the same time, hitmonlee's right fist glowed silver and he jumped up in the air to close the distance between himself and Noctowl. The owl then aimed the ball with black static around it at Hitmonlee, who tried to deflect it with his Brick Break but his fist just passed through the purple ball, surprising him. The ball struck the Kicking Pokemon on the chest, sending him to the ground and forcing him to grunt in pain.

"Hitmonlee, no!" Barry yelled with a terrified expression gluing itself on his face. He expected the Brick Break to crush the Shadow Ball but his fist completely passing through the ball was a bombshell to him as well.

Noticing the expression on Barry's face, Ash decided to explain the type rules for him as he started. "That was a bad move, Barry. You should know that Fighting-Type moves have no effect on Ghost-Type attacks. It's not just that Fighting-Type moves are ineffective against Ghost-Type Pokemon; the same goes for Ghost-Type moves as well." He finished his explanation, thoroughly elaborating for Barry as well as the spectators who didn't have any idea about the details of the latest events in the battle.

"Finish this with Psychic!" Ash instructed his Flying-Type Pokemon.

With a chirp, Noctowl's eyes glowed in light blue and as soon as it set eyes on Hitmonlee, the Fighting-Type's entire body too became surrounded in a light blue highlight. Noctowl, now controlling Hitmonlee's body raised him up from the ground and after a couple of short second slammed it back on the field. The bang with which Hitmonlee hit the ground made a loud cracking sound and the area got covered with dirt.

In the meantime, Ash pulled something which surprised everyone in the entire stadium; the spectators, his friends, Barry as well as Pikachu standing beside him. Even without having a look at Hitmonlee, Ash called his Noctowl back to its Pokeball.

"What is that?" The MC bawled, surprise clear in his tone. "Ash has recalled Noctowl and…" he waited as he saw the dust clearing completely and when it did, he continued. "it seems like Hitmonlee is not completely out yet. Did Ash recall his Noctowl thinking that it had already finished off Hitmonlee. This young trainer is full of surprises, folks!"

The sight of Hitmonlee getting up slowly from his fall forced a grin on Ash's face. He looked at Pikachu beside him and chuckled. "It's your turn, Pikachu."

The yellow rodent looked up at his trainer with a smirk; he knew he was going to battle today and he was exhilarated to fight in his first battle in the Sinnoh League. With a "Pika", the electric mouse ran on the battlefield and took his position on all fours.

"Pika chuuu!" he provoked the shakily standing Hitmonlee.

"Lets get warmed up, Pikachu. Quick Attack!" Ash swiped his hand from one side to another, a little bit of his old self getting back during this battle.

"Counter it with your Mach Punch Hitmonlee!" Barry shouted.

Pikachu did as he was told and ran at high speeds in a zig-zag pattern around his Fighting-Type opponent. Hitmonlee too readied his Mach Punch as he clenched his fist, which shone brightly with fighting aura. After taking enough warm up runs, Ash's Electric-Type finally decided to make his move, heading towards Hitmonlee.

However, with Mach Punch, Hitmonlee was ready for Quick Attack as he forced his fist against Pikachu's Quick Attack; the battle becoming one of strength between Quick Attack and Mach Punch. Due to Pikachu's small body, he would've normally been pushed back in a physical contest but the mouse understood very well that his opponent was tired and hence, he used even more strength. And just as Pikachu expected, he was able to throw back even a strong Fighting-Type like Hitmonlee in such a condition.

"We can win this, Hitmonlee. Let's use Close Combat!" Barry ordered.

"I am sorry Barry but we need to end this Quickly. Use Volt Tackle!" Ash commanded and smirked at his Round 4 opponent in the Sinnoh League.

Hitmonlee's eyes became red as he commenced his Close Combat. But Pikachu wasn't one to be outdone as he ran on all fours with electricity enveloping his entire body. Hitmonlee too charged at Pikachu in order to use Close Combat but before he could do anything, Pikachu speedup at the last second, jamming his Volt Tackle right at the Kicking Pokemon's gut.

The force of the impact sent Hitmonlee flying, his eyes remaining wide open. After falling from the wall the he struck, hitmonlee's eyes appeared to be covered in swirls as he fainted on the spot.

"Mon leee!" The Pokemon yelped unconsciously.

A quick glance was all it took for the referee to call the battle. "Hitmonlee is unable to continue, Pikachu wins!"

"Just like that, Ash ahd earmned himself anoither victory. He's just one battle away from reaching the quarter finals of this year's Lily of the Valley Conference." The MC shouted. "He has three wins while Barry still hasn't managed to even get one."

His head hanging due to disappointment, Barry recalled his Hitmonlee to his Pokeball and put it away without saying a word. He then, removed his fourth and final Pokeball for this battle, and probably the final Pokeball in the Sinnoh League. The blonde trainer raised his head, rotated in a circle and threw his last Pokeball on the field.

"Empopleon, let's go!"

The Pokeball opened up and out of it came Barry's last Pokemon; his starter – Empoleon. The final evolution of the Water-Type starter of Sinnoh roared his name loudly, announcing his arrival in the battle. He smirked when his eyes met with Pikachu's who also had a provoking smirk on his face.

"Alright Empoleon, use Hydro Pump!" Barry said, raising both his arms in the air.

"Dodge it and use Thunderbolt!" Ash ordered.

Empoleon opened his beak wide and in a moment, he released a huge pump of water from his mouth. He aimed the Hydro Pump at Pikachu, which went at a great speed towards Pikachu. But the yellow rodent proved too fast for the Hydro Pump to hit him, easily evading the Water-Type move. Then, the red sacks on Pikachu's cheeks spurred with electricity as he aimed his Thunderbolt at Empoleon, who somehow managed to get out of the way of it at the last moment.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt again!" Ash said calmly.

"Dodge it again like you did before, Empoleon!" Barry shouted, confident that his starter could dodge another one of Pikachu's bolts of electricity.

At the instant that he heard Ash, Pikachu's cheeks again generated electricity and created a bolt of it around the Pokemon after which, the mouse Pokemon aimed it at Empoleon again. And this time, the attack was used much faster, leaving the Emperor Pokemon unable to dodge this time.

"Pikachu is getting faster and faster after each move it uses." The MC screamed. "It seems like Pikachu is just warming up to unleash its true strength."

* * *

The group of Dawn, Brock and Conway who'd just joined them had started a conversation about the battle.

"How come Empoleon was able to dodge the first Thunderbolt and not the second?" Dawn question without any idea of Pikachu's sudden increase in speed.

No hesitation in his tone, Brock answered straightaway. "I think that Pikachu was holding back the first time just to check out Empoleon."

"To check out Empoleon?" Dawn asked, confused again.

"Pi piplup?" the Penguin Pokemon too seemed bewildered by what Ash and Pikachu were doing.

"Yes," Brock started. "It could be that Ash just wanted to check out how powerful Barry's Empoleon is."

* * *

Back on the battlefield, Empoleon shook his head after taking the Thunderbolt dead on; a Super-Effective move from a strong Pokemon clearly showing its effect.

"Empoleon, that's nothing! Attack Pikachu with Drill Peck!" The blonde-haired trainer of Empoleon's screeched.

On his command, the Emperor Pokemon jumped in the air and started spinning with his beak in the middle. After a few seconds of spinning like that, Empoleon's beak had grown bigger and it seemed almost like a drill machine as he dashed at Pikachu.

"Jump and then use Iron Tail!" Ash countered.

Just as Empoleon was about to strike him, Pikachu jumped up exactly like his trained told him to and as Empoleon passed the position he stood at earlier, Pikachu's tail glowed and became harder than steel; then, he slammed his Iron Tail right on Empoleon's spinning beak, sending him back towards his trainer's side.

"Emmmm poleon!" Empoleon grunted in pain, more bruises appearing on his face.

"We won't go down so easily. Empoleon, Hyper Beam!" Barry shouted in panic.

"Pikachu, it's time to end this. Use Volt Tackle at full Power!" The raven-haired boy from Pallet Town said to his starter.

In his beak, Empoleon charged a range ball of energy; the power of it so much that his leg claws dug into the field. At the same time, Pikachu ran forward with electricity surrounding his entire body; his speed and the power of the move increasing steadily as he rushed towards Empoleon. Eventually, Empoleon released the beam of energy from his mouth and aimed it right at Pikachu. Though, one again, Pikachu used his speed to dodge the attack, one which covered quite a bit of area as well.

The impact of the Hyper Beam with the ground led to a huge blast around it. However, Pikachu didn't stop his charge and before long, slammed his entire, electric-stricken body on Empoleon. The Water and Steel-Type cried in agony when electricity from Pikachu's Volt Tackle surged through his entire steel body, Pikachu retreating back while he fell on the ground.

"Empoleon, it can't be!" Barry whispered in disbelief.

Empoleon lied on the battlefield, unmoving and apparently unconscious; the entire stadium got silent while Barry's eyes were bloodshot and agape. The referee too raised his green flag towards Ash but, just when he was about to declare the result, he saw movement; movement from Empoleon who stood up, surprising everyone again.

This time, Empoleon's eyes appeared to be red and his entire body got covered in a light blue highlight.

"Could that be Empoleon's ability, Torrent?" Ash pondered as he too, couldn't take his eyes off Empoleon's magnificent ability that had awakened just now.

"Can you still fight, Empoleon?" Barry asked, concern evident in his eyes as he asked his last question silently. When his Pokemon response came in the form of a nod, Barry's eyes lit up and he directed his Pokemon once again. "Torrent increases the power of your Water-Type moves. Then let's use Hydro Cannon at full power!" he yelled.

"You have to dodge it Pikachu. Then use Thunderbolt!" Ash shouted for the first time in the battle. At this point, even he understood that a Torrent-enhanced Hydro Cannon from Empoleon could be fatal even for Pikachu.

Empoleon obliged, opening his beak out wide, where a blue flash of light appeared. In the next immediate instant, the flash disappeared and was replaced by a blue ball of water, seemingly very powerful. In one action, Empoleon fired the Hydro Cannon at Pikachu, who for the first time became unable to get out of the way in time. Pikachu cried out when the Hydro Cannon struck it, the power of which sending Pikachu flying towards Ash's side of the battlefield.

"Pikachu!" Ash shouted, turning back towards where Pikachu was headed.

Like many others, Pikachu slammed directly into the wall of the field and screamed again at the time of impact; taking severe damage due to the move. But soon, he opened his eyes, much to the relief of his trainer and got up from the fall, albeit not in the best of conditions.

A smile crossed Ash's features as he sighed in relief. "This time, we'll win this for sure. It's time for Electro Ball!"

"Electro Ball?" Barry asked, unaware of the move that Ash had just called out.

The electric rodent nodded, forming a yellow ball of electricity with a brown nucleus on his tail. When the yellow orb was completed, Pikachu jumped up and turned around, sending the Electro Ball right at Empoleon. The Emperor Pokemon tried his best to move but he just couldn't; his feet were just too tired and worn out to make a movement. As a result, Pikachu's Electro Ball made direct contact with Empleon and did Super-Effective damage.

"Empoleon is unable to battle, Pikachu wins!" The referee raised the green flag towards Ash for the fourth and final time in the match. "That means, the winner of this match is Ash Ketchum, who advances to the next round!" he declared.

"And the clear victor of this match is Ash!" The commentator said.

The crowd burst out in cheers after the terrific display of Pokemon battling they had just witnessed in the last hour. It was an amazing battle indeed; even though it would go down as a one-sided match, Ash winning it 4-0, it still gave them what they had paid their money for.

Recalling Empoleon to his Pokeball, Barry smiled wryly at it. "You were amazing out there, Empoleon. You did your best. Thank you!"

On the other side of the battlefield though, Ash bent down and grinned at his starter Pokemon who had come through for him once more. "Just as awesome as always, Pikachu!" the Kanto-native boy complimented his Pokemon before he glanced across the field and smiled genuinely at his close friend and Round 4 opponent, Barry.

* * *

**So, how was the chapter? How did the battle turn out?**

**You guys might have a couple of questions and I would answer them for you in advance.**

**If you are confused about Bulbasaur using Frenzy Plant, then I would like to say that it's possible through a special event in the games so yeah, I figured that Ash's Bulbasaur should know that moves since there are not a lot of powerful moves that a Bulbasaur can learn.**

**And I just decided to make Pikachu know Electro Ball because I felt that there aren't really that many different types of strong Electric-Type moves that Pikachu can learn either. For example, Thunderbolr, Discharge, etc are pretty similar in the end so I decided to give him Electro Ball.**

**If you have any other queries, feel free to ask them in the comments or send me a PM.**

**And as always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!**


	7. Battles with the Past

_**Battles with the Past**_

* * *

**Been a while, huh? Well, 25 days to be exact. I had the content of the chapter planned for quite a while but you know, I wasn't motivated enough to write. However, as you can see, I am here with a new chapter in this story.**

**Anyways, I hope you like the chapter!**

* * *

Almost all the lights switched off inside a huge hall, where several men were seated around a big, rectangular table. In one of the corners of the hall, a massive screen displayed a few pictures; the pictures seemed to be of some ancient towers and relics on which, inscriptions in an ancient language had been inscribed.

A man stood next to the screen; in his right hand was a metallic stick, the foot of which he had firmly placed on the ground. The man holding the stick had medium length, pale green hair in two locks; one sticking out by his eyes and one sticking above them. The man with red eyes, wearing a red eye piece over his right eye and a long black coat sternly observed the people sitting in front of him and as soon as he confirmed that he had everyone's full attention, he spoke out loud.

"Good evening gentlemen!" The green haired man, appearing in his fifties greeted. "As you must know by now, everything is going right according to our plan. Our setup here for the event is almost complete, thanks to the valiant effort of all of you as well as the entire team. All that is left to be done here now is to wait for the time when the legend of this region will come true. And then,"

The man turned his face towards the screen and the images that displayed on the giant monitor disappeared before some new pictures replaced them. Now, on the screen, all the people sitting saw huge statues of two Pokemon across each other; one bipedal and one quadruped, both rock structures glaring at each other. Even though they were just statues, their eyes showed the undying aggression they held towards one another, which would scare anyone who dare oppose them.

All the men present in what was like a conference room watched the picture with utmost interest, some of them gasping when they understood what their leader meant.

"Yes, our next target as some of you already know is the Sinnoh region and these two," The leader of Team Plasma pointed his metallic stick – which by no means was ordinary towards the screen. "are Dialga and Palkia, the rulers of Time and Space respectively and the ones known to have created the land of Sinnoh."

"So, Commander Ghetsis, when does the operation in Sinnoh begin?" A man having blonde hair and wearing a white lab coat asked out loud. "Team Galactic is the one with the most control over the region of Sinnoh, isn't it? I have my doubts that it would be anything but easy for us to start our operations there without Team Galactic interfering." Colress, the head scientist of Team Plasma and also one known throughout all regions as one of the best in the business, stated his queries with a crude grin spreading across his face.

The leader of Team Plasma hosting the conference, now identified as Ghetsis, watched Colress for few moments with a serious expression on his face. But soon, his expression turned into a sly smirk as he answered to his subordinate.

"Team Galactic won't make it easy for us to start a working base in Sinnoh, that's for sure." He explained, still wearing his smirk. "But thanks to you, that task has become much easier for us. We just have to wait for the on-going Sinnoh League to end and then, we can put our plan to actions." Ghetsis announced.

"Ahh!" Colress boomed as he understood what their leader meant. "So, we are going to make use of that plan, afterall."

"Yes, that will be our trump card in taking over the region of Sinnoh." The Team Plasma leader confirmed with a nod of his head. "Speaking of which, this year's Sinnoh League has been making quite a fuss around the world. They're saying that this one has been the most competitive Pokemon League in recent years. Maybe, I'll visit Sinnoh to watch the finals."

* * *

"So, you guys have already boarded on the Lily of the Valley island?"

The question was asked by Ash and directed to the white-haired old man who appeared on the telephone screen in front of him. There was a three day break between the Top 16 and the Top 8 rounds and in that time, lots of things were set to happen. The Sinnoh League was heading to the last stages of the competition and hence, the island where it was being held was filled with tourists who had come to watch the last three round of the Lily of the Valley Conference.

But even so, the crowd that was building up on the island was much more than the previous Sinnoh Leagues; the reason of which being as obvious to everyone as it could be. People from all around the world had surely flooded there to watch the few final battles of the league, but what had really piqued their interest was witnessing the Legendary Pokemon, Darkrai. They not only hoped to see the Pitch black Pokemon in action, but were also curious to know if the trainer who had stolen the spotlight of the Sinnoh League, Tobias had anymore Pokemon as amazing as his Darkrai.

Needless to say, they would want Darkrai to show them as much of its power as possible, but getting to see another one of a Legendary of Darkrai's caliber would lit up the Sinnoh League even more. Or so they hoped. And that was only possible if a trainer managed to defeat the Pokemon who was undefeated in Sinnoh, defeating all its opponents – from the Gym Leaders to all of the participants of the Sinnoh League with ease.

On the telephone screen, Professor Oak wearing a green shirt and a sun hat along with sunglasses grinned at the trainer from his hometown before replying. "Yes, we just arrived here. We will reach the stadium in a few minutes."

"I was so busy that I forgot to ask you exactly when you guys would be coming here. I would've come to the port if I knew you were going to come today." Ash said with a wry smile on his face.

The raven-haired trainer from Pallet Town indeed felt bad that he couldn't go and receive the Professor and his mom from the port. Well, it wasn't as if he had a car to pick them up but he could've made some arrangements and made it easier for them after they'd travelled all the way from Kanto, just to see him battle in the Sinnoh League.

Professor Oak waved a hand at Ash's response. "Don't worry, Ash. We're perfectly fine. Besides, dear old Mr. Goodshow is already here to give us a ride."

As Professor Oak moved a little, Ash saw the President of the Pokemon League, Mr. Goodshow waving at him. But the appearance of Mr. Goodshow didn't surprise Ash; he wondered why and then it clicked to him: Samuel Oak and Charles Goodshow were childhood friends and were pretty close; that being one of the reason Professor Oak revealed his secret about Darkrai to Mr. Goodshow.

"I should have figured that!" Ash chuckled lightly, scratching the back of his head. "So, I'll wait for you guys in the Pokemon Center."

"Sure. See you in a while." Professor Oak signed off, waving his hand.

* * *

Just as the Pokemon Professor from Kanto said, they had reached the stadium in a few minutes after his call with Ash. Ash was overjoyed to see Professor Oak and even more joyous to see his mother, although he tried to hide the excitement as best as he could, not wanting to seem silly in front of all the people in the busy Pokemon Center of the Lily of the Valley stadium.

Since Ash figured that Delia and Professor Oak must be tired after their trip, he suggested that they rest in his suite for a while. Of course, the reservations for Professor Oak were already done in the hotel; however, he didn't want to decline the boy's offer so they all walked to the room given to Ash in the Pokemon Center.

The good thing was that, after the end of the Top 16 round, all the remaining 8 participants were given new suites as the league understood that some of the participant's friends and family might come to watch the remaining battles. So even if someone stayed along with Ash, Dawn and Brock, they wouldn't have a problem adjusting to it in the spacious 2 bedroom suite.

"Congratulations on making it to the Top 8 of the Sinnoh League, Ash!" Professor Oak commended Ash's efforts in the Sinnoh League so far with a bright smile. His expression soon became a little serious as he continued. "But Ash," The old man called, his tone becoming just as serious and earnest as his expression. "This time, I want you to go all the way. I don't want you to lose after making it so far."

A titter left Ash's lips at the Professor guiding points, which told him to win the Sinnoh League. It wasn't as if he was making fun of Professor Oak or anything, the laugh was just a cover for the disappointment he felt for losing the previous leagues, especially the Hoenn League. He knew that he stood a great chance of winning it if he would have prepared better and not been naïve enough to just use the Pokemon caught in Hoenn. He believed that he could have defeated Tyson – the trainer who went on to win the Hoenn League, if he'd used a team of a more experienced Pokemon against him in the Top 8 battle which he lost by a hair.

"Don't worry Professor!" He confidently assured not only Professor Oak, but also all the others present beside him. "I don't intend to lose the Sinnoh League, at least not by making the mistakes I made last time. It was quite foolish of me, wasn't it? Thinking that I could go through a regional Pokemon League with a team which wasn't my strongest."

Ash's face held a visibly annoyed look as he finished his explanation about what he'd learned from his previous failures. Silence took over the room, Ash gazing at the floor in deep thought. The others in the room too, understood what Ash felt but they also had faith in Ash's determination to pull through for him this time around.

Placing a hand on Ash's shoulder, Professor Oak smiled gently, but also proudly at the young man from Pallet Town. "I believe you can do it, Ash. You can win the Sinnoh League and go on to become a Pokemon Master someday."

The words of encouragement received from Professor Oak made Ash raise his face and glance at the Professor. Ash could see that he meant what he said; that Professor Oak truly believed in him. Upon turning to look at the other around him, Ash realized that they too held the same amount of belief in him.

"Thanks, Professor!" Ash said defiantly, brimming with an even greater desire to win the Sinnoh League, not just for himself, but also for the ones who had supported him throughout his journey as a trainer. "I won't lose this time!"

"That's my boy!" Delia chimed in, delighted that his son had grown so much since the time he left her to become a Pokemon Master. "Go win the Sinnoh League and make your mom, proud!" she cheered, hugging her son with her left hand.

Of course, Ash felt flustered being hugged by his mother like that in front of his friends. He wasn't a 10 or 12 year kid anymore and the way his mom embraced him was somewhat embarrassing for the boy from Pallet Town as he tried his hardest to get out of his mom's grip, albeit without applying any force. He knew very well that he'd developed enough to overpower her but he would never do that now, would he?

"Mom, you're embarrassing me." He whispered to his mother, a slight blush crossing his cheeks at the love his mother showed for him while all the others burst out in laughter.

* * *

Only two days remained before the first match of Round 5 of the Lily of the Valley Conference would commence on the island and it was times for the match-ups for the Top 8 of the Sinnoh League to be revealed to the entire world.

People who followed the Sinnoh League were excited for the last stages of the League to begin; their excitement was quite justified after they'd seen that the remaining 8 trainers appeared to be strong and the prediction of who would make it to the finals was extremely difficult. However, they had faith that one of them would succeed in doing so without any problems : Tobias, the most talked about trainer in the past month.

Everyone was counting on him on winning this year's Sinnoh League and who could blame them? He'd not even used a single Pokemon beside his Darkrai and he was already in the Top 8. But they also believed that there will be someone in the league who would prove challenging to even Tobias and knew, they might even get to see another one of his Pokemon.

In the middle of the huge clearing outside the Pokemon Center, a crowd had gathered with their eyes glued to the massive screen right outside the Pokemon Center. The crowd included spectators and participants alike, all looking forward for what was about to be displayed on the screen.

As soon as the clock hit 10 am, the images of the remaining eight trainers appeared and as usual, started shuffling. In a few moments, the screen came to a standstill bringing the Top 8 matches into view.

All the trainers observed the screen and as expected, they all had different expressions on their faces; most smiled but a couple grimaced as well. The first battle of the quarter final of the Sinnoh League was between Ash and Paul and they both looked forward to it, glancing at one another and exchanging looks; expressions which clearly challenged one another, saying that both of them were ready for the deciding match in their Sinnoh region rivalry.

* * *

The quarter final match between Ash and Paul was just a couple of days away. Ash, like he'd done so often during these last few days, was training in a secluded clearing a fair distance away from the Pokemon Center. The preparations for his match against Paul were all but complete; with the Pokemon he would be using against his rival chosen by the boy right after he saw his match-up.

A glance around the field was enough to make a smile cross Ash's face. His Pokemon were working hard like they always did, giving it their all during training as well as during battle. After his pre Sinnoh League training, Ash had picked up quite a lot in his approach to the way he trained his Pokemon. Even before that, he followed quite a unique and successful training regiment but now, his procedure seemed even more refined.

The trainer from Pallet Town had learnt exactly the amount of time he should let his Pokemon work out in one go before giving them a rest. This not only helped them be in better shape than normal but their training also proved to be way more fruitful following this new plan.

Ash turned his head towards the road nearby as he heard a faint noise of an engine, probably of a vehicle approaching at a quick pace. He had noted that not many people used this road and hence, he appeared curious to find out who would be passing by. As the black jeep came closer, he saw a very familiar face in the driver's seat.

"Cynthia." Ash thought out loud, anxious where the Sinnoh Champion would be going at this time; it was close to sunset.

However, Ash wasn't the only one who'd noticed it; even Cynthia saw the Pokemon training as well as Ash. Her jeep came to a halt right beside where Ash was standing, the blonde sending a genuine smile across to Ash.

"What are you doing Ash? You're still training, Ash?" Cynthia asked, still seated.

Ash walked towards Cynthia's jeep and answered. "Yeah. Just refining some moves. What about you? You looked like you were in a hurry."

"Yes, I am!" Cynthia replied and her joyous tone didn't go unnoticed by Ash, who wondered why she seemed so happy. "I am going to the port to pick up a friend. But I am running a little late."

Ash raised both his eyebrows for a moment, finally understanding why Cynthia looked in such a rush. "No wonder you were driving so fast."

The Champion held her tongue out of her mouth. "It wasn't that fast. Just a little faster than I normally drive." A curious look made its way to her face as she continued. "You haven't experienced my driving yet, have you?" she questioned, evidently interested in knowing the answer she couldn't quite recollect.

"No, I haven't. But the way you were just driving, something says me that I would be better off if I didn't." Ash chuckled, intent on teasing Cynthia with his words.

However, Cynthia didn't seem too pleased with it, her smile turning into a pout and her eyes narrowing. Her driving skills were pretty good and she'd been complimented for it many a times from her friends. What Ash told her was just a joke, but recently, Cynthia had been taking almost all of Ash's statements including the ones he meant no rudeness with, to heart. Even she didn't know why because she knew that Ash didn't mean such things seriously but she just couldn't let those things go.

In the few seconds that Cynthia had dazed off, Ash noticed that she was deep in thought. He scratched his cheek with his index finger and sighed; he couldn't believe that Cynthia was concerned over something like that.

"Hey Cynthia, weren't you getting late to reach the port?" Ash brought out the topic, just to get Cynthia's attention.

Snapping out of her train of thoughts in an instant, Cynthia shouted, staggered. "I completely forgot!"

"I'll ride with you sometime soon and maybe..." Ash paused a bit as he saw Cynthia look at him with keen interest.

"And maybe?"

"Maybe you could teach me how to drive too."

"I'll be glad to be your driving trainer, Ash." Cynthia declared merrily, beaming at Ash as she prepared to leave in her jeep again. "I better get going now. I'll see you tonight."

"See you!" Ash waved towards Cynthia who'd again picked up the speed she drew here with. He couldn't help but smile lightly at the disappearing figure of Cynthia's jeep that soon, went out of his sight.

* * *

The sky was dark; the air was silent while a beautiful full moon completed a perfect night sky. It was the night before the quarter final of the Sinnoh League would begin; the night before Ash would probably be battling his long-time Sinnoh rival for the last time in his journey; at least for the last time in his Sinnoh journey this time around.

In a small clearing away from the stadiums of the Lily of the Valley Conference, Ash Ketchum stood silently gazing at the sky. His expression didn't reveal anything he felt at that moment, because there was nothing to show. Ash had cleared his mind of everything; he didn't want to overthink. The boy from Pallet had full faith in the Pokemon he'd chosen to use against Paul the next day but he still believed that Paul would prove to be quite a challenge to him; or so he hoped.

It was unusual….. very unusual that a trainer fighting to win a Pokemon League would want his opponent to give him a tough fight. There were trainers who wanted to have fun while battling and enjoyed the thrills of a Pokemon battle but what Ash wished to happen in his battle with Paul was totally different.

What he felt at that time couldn't be described by him; even he felt confused as to why he would want to do so good. Wanting your opponent to give you a good and worthy fight wouldn't be unusual, be it was almost as if he wanted the battle to go to the wire; like he wanted himself to be pushed to his limit by Paul.

A few sounds behind Ash's back made him snap out of his daze. The raven-haired trainer turned his head around and found Infernape and Sceptile to be having some kind of argument, both of them starting at the other while his other Pokemon watched from the sidelines. He smiled, taking a few quiet steps towards the creatures, which got their attention.

"You guys seem to be having fun." Ash commented upon seeing that Infernape and Sceptile still appeared to be glaring at one another.

"Sceptile!" The fully-evolved form of the Heonn Grass-type starter hushed, turned his back to Infernape and folded his arms, appearing as proud as ever.

"Fernape!" Infernape took a stance, which showed his anger.

Ash took his hat off and sighed. "What happened between them, Darkrai?" Ash questioned to his most wise Pokemon.

'_It's a quarrel between the two to decide which one of them is faster. Infernape says that his punches are faster while Sceptile disagrees saying that his jumps help him move faster than Infernape.'_ The Pitch Black Pokemon explained the reason behind Sceptile and Infernape's disagreement to his trainer.

"I think both you are fast in your own ways." Ash told his two Pokemon in a calm tone. "Instead of discussing about speed, you guys could have talked about the previous Pokemon Leagues I participated in."

Upon the topic conveyed by Ash, most of the Pokemon around visibly appeared to be interested. Expect for Pikachu and Charizard, who'd been with Ash throughout, Sceptile, Infernape, Darkrai and Heatran who hadn't witnessed Ash's battles in all his previous leagues wanted to know how they went down and how their trainer apparently lost after coming close each time. Well, him losing every regional league was pretty easily figured out by the Pokemon since he'd already informed them that he had never won a Pokemon League before.

A smirk made its way on Ash's face as soon as he realized that his Pokemon wanted to know about his past. "Alright, I'll tell you about how I did in the Indigo, Johto and Hoenn Leagues." The amber-eyed boy sat down on the ground and motioned for his Pokemon do to the same, who willingly obeyed their trainer.

"Where to begin?" Ash pondered in thought, leaning on the grass and putting his hands behind his head.

"Pika Piii!" Pikachu exclaimed, jumping beside Ash with a raised index finger.

Ash clicked his finers, as he too agreed to Pikachu's apparent suggestion. "The Indigo League, the first ever Pokemon League I ever participated in."

As Ash started, his Pokemon curiously listening to him with keen interest. Sceptile closed his eyes, Infernape leaned forward, Heatran's eyes opened agape, Pikachu appeared excited too, with only Darkrai, who could contain his excitement and Charizard who'd been through it all, being the only ones retaining their normal expressions.

"In the Indigo League, I was a pretty inexperienced trainer. I only made it to the Top 16 of that League." Ash looked up into the sky once again, smiling as he recalled the events that occurred during that time. "You know, I could've easily made it to the Top 8 at least, or even farther in the Indigo League but a few unfortunate things didn't let me." The trainer stopped hearing his Pokemon's whispers before continuing. "Well, firstly, Team Rocket interfered as always and in getting out of that mess, most of my Pokemon were tired and I only had a few Pokemon to use. But even that shouldn't have stopped me from winning that match against Ritchie. If only…" Ash glanced at Charizard who, knowing what was coming looked the other way with an expression which didn't look as it was too pleasing. Ash tittered and spoke again. "If only I was a good enough trainer to control Charizard at that time, that match was all but mine."

The moment Ash finished his statement, Charizard huffed, closing his eyes and jerking his head upward. It was clear that he was discontent; frustrated but not because Ash mentioned such an embarrassing event for him. But because he was foolish enough to disobey his trainer; more so at such a crucial time. The battle in the Indigo League was probably the easiest he ever had in a Pokemon League and he even blew that chance.

Sitting opposite the Fire-type, Darkrai noticed Charizard's unpleased look and even he couldn't help but be curious about how Ash's last battle at the Indigo League had transpired.

'_So, how did you lose, Ash?'_ The Dark-type asked using telepathy. _'It's clear that it was Charizard's fault but I would like to hear more if you don't mind.' _The Legendary Pokemon teased his fellow Pokemon with his comment but his tone became serious when he asked his trainer about details in his royal speech.

"Heeeet!" Heatran, too, showed his interest in the matter.

Seeing his Pokemon reactions, Ash seemed kind of happy. He was glad that his Pokemon wanted to hear about the way his previous outing in the League went and in his mind, he thought that they could learn and know what they should and shouldn't do in the battles that could turn out to be difficult in those latter stages of the League.

"At that point, I think I wasn't a strong enough trainer to control Charizard, who was my strongest Pokemon at the Indigo League. I know that if I could've controlled him, I could have made it much farther in that league."

He explained the reasons for his defeat in the Indigo League to his Pokemon, most of whom looked at Ash with a face which held a little bit of concern. The expression Ash wore while telling them about his first ever League wasn't the happiest and his Pokemon were quick enough to catch on. However, a puff of smoke released from Charizard's nose afterwards lifted everyone's mood as they laughed at the behavior of their friend, even Sceptile and Darkrai couldn't prevent a chuckle from escaping their mouths.

"The next region I travelled through was Johto and there, I entered the Silver Conference." Ash continued his speech, so much dwelled in nostalgia that he didn't even realize that his Pokemon had a good laugh just then. "I made it to the Top 8 there but it was different from the Indigo League. I lost even after giving it my all. If I would've won that match, I had a pretty good chance of winning the entire Silver Conference. Charizard fought with all he had but in the end, I relied on him too much even during the Johto League."

This time, Charizard seemed to have had enough as he stood up and turned the other way, not wanting to respond to any of the stares that were directed towards him from Darkrai, Sceptile, Infernape and Heatran. He soon snorted and flapped his wings once, brewing up a strong air current, just ensuring that he still held the authority even after the revelation of some of the actions that he considered to be embarrassing. He was a dragon after all, and even had the pride of one.

Finally, Ash noticed the stares that were thrown at Charizard and decided to clear things up. "Well, on both occasions, it wasn't Charizard's fault. He just didn't have enough support because I didn't have other Pokemon on the same level as him. " As the trainer saw his Pokemon's gaze softening towards his first Fire-type, Ash now began to tell them about the Hoenn League. "In the Hoenn League, I decided that I would only use the Pokemon I caught in Hoenn and that mistake proved fatal. The quarter final match against Tyson there was also very close, with Pikachu and Tyson's Meowth both putting their last bit of energy in their final attacks but again, I lost by a hair."

It was now time for Pikachu and Sceptile to look away when mentioned about the region they battle most in. Pikachu's ears dropped while Sceptile just tried to ignore everything happening around him, aware that his trainer had finished talking about the previous Pokemon Leagues he participated in.

Abruptly, Ash stood up from the ground, startling all his Pokemon, who looked up at him in utter surprise, oblivious to why he had suddenly risen from his comfortable position.

"But this time, none of those mistakes will be repeated. I will make sure I don't even come close to doing the same things again." He glanced at each of his Pokemon, making them anxious about what was to come their way. "We will win the Sinnoh League but before that, we'll beat Paul and show him how to raise Pokemon!" The tone in which he spoke was serious, containing truth in each word as they left his mouth and resonated through the vicinity.

The declaration of Ash's had successfully got all of his Pokemon's blood pumping as they all roared to show their full support. Infernape sent a shockwave with a Mach Punch, Pikachu ran on all fours and jumped up to sit on Ash's shoulder, Heatran released bits of lava from his mouth while the other three gazed at their trainer with confident smirks on their faces.

* * *

"You have got to be careful. Ash is a pretty strong trainer and in the Sinnoh League, he's performing as good as I have seen him battle."

The voice of Reggie, the elder brother of Paul reverberated through the empty room as the trainer turned Pokemon breeder warned his younger brother about the battle against Ash, which was scheduled to begin at 11 am, almost two hours later. The reason Paul had called his brother was to confirm if the Pokemon he'd chosen were the right one or not. That was not like Paul but even he knew that he had to be at his best to defeat this newly transformed Ash, who had been using Pokemon he'd never seen the Pallet Town teenager use before.

Paul let out a snort at the repeated warning that his brother gave him in this long vide call. "I know. He has been good in the league so far."

Reggie smiled at his brother, who even though proud, was wise enough to accept and acknowledge what needed to be. "But I believe in you, Paul. No matter what happens, defeat Ash and then go on to win the Sinnoh League. I will be watching every moment of your next battle with Ash."

"Of course, I plan to do so." He replied with his lips curling into a smile, ever so slightly.

The call ended with a wave from Reggie and Paul didn't waste any time to end the call and walk towards the door. However, when he was just about to silently make his way outside, he saw someone standing near the entrance to the room; and to say he was surprised to see him would be an understatement.

"Are you ready, Paul?"

Paul stopped his march outside the door after the question was thrown at him by his rival and quarter final opponent, Ash Ketchum leaning on the door without his hat, a strange sight for him to see the boy who wore a hat even at night to be seen without his trusty hat.

Paul looked at Ash and replied instantly. "Of course. There wasn't much I needed to do in the first pace. Whether my opponent was you or anyone else, my team was already decided before the match-ups were released."

A simper escaped from Ash at Paul's unwavering confidence. He could only deduce that, for better or worse, Paul hadn't changed. But Ash didn't feel too bad about it; except for the trait of Paul where he didn't treat his Pokemon well, the raven-haired boy approved of most of his other qualities even if he was arrogant.

"You haven't changed Paul. You have beaten me quite a few times in Sinnoh. So many times, in fact, that I have lost count. But," His tone changed as he started walking outside alongside Paul. "All those results don't count here. You can fight as hard as you want but you cannot beat me today."

The purple-haired rival of Ash's raised an eyebrow at Ash's declaration. "You're become quite cocky, haven't you?"

"Is that right?" he mocked. "I never realized that. Maybe, it's you who has become less of an asshole?"

"And what makes you think that?"

"Hmm.. There are many things that have changed about you." Walking outside the building, Ash pondered over Paul's question. "For one thing, you have become calmer and don't run your mouth and go commenting about how _pathetic_ everything around you is. At least, you've stopped badmouthing other too often." He said, keeping his hands in his pockets. "Not that I expect you to completely stop but I've seen a difference in your attitude since I first met you and now."

"You're pathetic if you think that!" Paul retorted, fastening his pace. "Instead of worrying about how I am doing, shouldn't you worry if you are ready to face me? You are the one who's always lost to me, so it should be you who needs to think his plans ten times over!" The vice of the trainer from Veilstone City when he said that seemed irritated as well as louder than usual.

Ash grinned at the response he earned from Paul just then. He noted that another thing about Paul had changed, he never got easily agitated before but now, he did after just a couple of comments from him. But that also made him wonder if what Paul had said was true : that he'd changed.

"But isn't my record in Pokemon League better than yours?" Ash continued his bombardment of taunts; he just couldn't let up and allow this chance to trouble Paul slide. Beside he was having the most fun he'd ever had with Paul around.

"How does that matter?!" Paul almost screamed, halting in his tracks, utterly frustrated.

Ash snickered. "Alright. Nothing matters. But you're still going to lose. There's no way for you to win against me now. I know all of your tricks but you still have no idea of what I can do."

Paul couldn't do anything except glare at Ash for seconds what seemed like a long time. "We'll know that in a few hours."

With those last words, Paul hurried out of Ash's sight. Ash could only scratch his hatless head and ponder if he did a little too much to get Paul heated up. Well, the entire reason that Ash even bothered to talk to Paul right before the game was to aggravate him and try to get the best out of him; not that he expected Paul to hold back either way.

But just as Ash was to turn around and leave, he saw a group of interesting faces heading his way. Dawn, Brock and strangely even Cynthia was with them. But he didn't recognize the fourth member in the group.

The girl with long, wavy blonde hair that reached her waist. She wore a white top with a transparent pink cape along with a fluffy, pale pink hat atop her head. The girl with blue eyes, probably in her late teens or early twenties appeared to be talking with Cynthia as if they each other pretty well as the group walked forward and closer to where Ash stood.

"Hey Ash!" Dawn called, being the first to notice the boy as she waved with a grin on her face. "What are you doing here?"

Ash removed his gaze from the unknown girl and started walking towards the group as he heard Dawn's question. "I should be asking you that. Didn't I tell you I would meet you back in the Pokemon Center?"

"It had been quite a while since you left and we ran into Cynthia and her friend. So we decided to take a walk." The blunette explained the situation to Ash.

After contemplating what she said, Ash nodded. "I see. So she's Cynthia's friend."

Finally, the group halted besides Ash. But something that'd not been seen by either Ash nor Dawn suddenly came up. Brock got down on one knee, took Cynthia's blonde friend's hand in his own and again did something that he'd probably forgotten since coming to the Lily of the Valley island.

"O fair lady, would you be kind enough to let me show you some of the love I have filled inside my heart?" Brock requested in his romantic tone, the one he usually used when trying to charm women.

Silence filled the air around the group, who had forgotten what to do in such a situation.

Cynthia wore a weird look on her face as she eventually opened her mouth. "I.. don't think Caitlin is feeling very comfortable right now."

Ash and Dawn both looked at Cynthia's friend, now identified as Caitlin and indeed found out the truth. She appeared to have a really confused look on her face; as if she didn't know how to get out of the situation.

And that was when the miracle saved the girl again. In a bright flash of light, Brock's Croagunk miraculously came out of its Pokeball on its own and did his job without any delays. The Poison-Type Pokemon's right fist glowed and it jabbed it into brock's gut. The tan-skinned breeder was forced to let go of Caitlin's hand as Croagunk dragged him holding on to his trousers.

"Well, that was…. amusing." Cynthia commented on the bizarre event that just took place in front of them.

"Don't mind him. He's kind of crazy when it comes to beautiful girls." Dawn said, clearly embarrassed by the older companion's actions.

Cynthia nodded, letting a loose titter escape her lips at what Dawn said. She had seen Brock act like that a couple of times, even to her. But she didn't pay much mind to that.

"Anyways, Ash," Cynthia called. "You remember I told you I had to pick up a friend from the port two days back when we met?"

His eyes narrowed, Ash thought about it and instantly remembered. "Yeah, I remember. You meanshe is that friend?"

"Yes, this is Caitlin." Cynthia pointed her hand graciously at her friend. "She's one of the Unova Elite Four."

At the mention of Caitlin being one of the Unova Elite Four, expressions showing shock appeared on Ash as well as Dawn's face. They just thought that Caitlin might be an ordinary friend of Cynthia's but it was now confirmed that it was impossible for Sinnoh's Champion to have ordinary or normal friends. All of them who the duo of Ash and Dawn knew of Cynthia's friend was someone either from the Elite Four or a high official of the Pokemon League like the President, Charles Good show. It even made Dawn think if she could be called Cynthia's friend, while no such thought of confusion passed through Ash's mind. To Ash, Cynthia had become a really close friend and he believed that she thought of him the same way.

"And Caitlin, this is Ash. I've told you about him." Cynthia introduced Ash to Caitlin.

The raven-haired trainer decided to act like a gentleman. He offered Caitlin his hand and greeted. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Caitlin."

The newly arrived friend of Cynthia's and also the member of the Unova Elite Four shook Ash's hand and smiled. "Likewise Ash. I've been looking forward to meeting you since a few days now. Cynthia has been mentioning you quite a bit in our conversations these past few days."

"She has?" Ash asked with a snicker. "I wonder why?"

Caitlin's response was instantaneous. "I wondered about that too but now I am pretty certain of the reason."

The blonde from Unova came ever so closer to Ash before turning around to look at Cynthia. She winked at her and taking everyone by surprise, placed her soft, red lips on Ash's. Even the victim, Ash didn't know what to do in such a situation but thankfully for him, Caitlin retreated her face after a long couple of seconds.

"What"

"the"

"Fuck!"

Those were the only words that could come out of the mouths of Cynthia, Dawn and Brock – who'd had suddenly recovered and appeared again – respectively.

All three of them had look of utter stupor on their faces as they watched Caitlin smiling at them after the short yet powerful stunt she'd just pulled. Cynthia couldn't believe, so couldn't Dawn. Brock went in utter despair seeing his friend who'd grown up in front of his eyes get what he wanted so desperately. Cynthia and Dawn couldn't close their agape mouths; it was as if they'd been hit by a bomb.

On the other hand, the boy in question Ash just moved his fingers through the lips that had just been kissed by Caitlin. He couldn't help but admit that Caitlin's lips were soft and the sensation that lasted only a moment was something to crave for.

"You guys are overreacting. It was just a peck. It's not as if we _really _kissed." Caitlin beamed at the bemused group in a feeling of joy and satisfaction she received from watching the looks on their faces. That kiss was worth it just in order to have a glimpse of Cynthia's expression at that time.

* * *

After the remaining hours passing by seemingly quickly, it was finally time for the long awaited, first match of the quarter final of the Lily of the Valley island to get underway. The massive stadium were full of people, the tickets being sold out well before the match day. Amongst the crowd, in one part of the stadium comfortably seated were Dawn, Brock along with Delia and Professor Oak.

On the ground, Ash and Paul stood on opposite ends of the field, ready to commence the battle at any moment. They both had serious looks on their faces; they both realized that this was it. This was their chance to advance to the semi-finals of a League for the first time, a feat which neither of them had achieved in their careers as Pokemon trainers.

"This quarter final battle between Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town and Paul from Veilstone City will now begin." The referee began the formalities. "It will be a six-on-six battle and both the trainers are allowed to substitute Pokemon at any time. Paul gets the first move." Like always, the man in the middle of the battlefield raised both the flags at once and announced. "Begin!"

As told by the referee, Paul tossed his Pokeball on the field first. As soon as it hit the ground on his side, it snapped open and his first Pokemon came out, revealing itself to be a massive, green, turtle like Pokemon.

"Torterra, standby for battle!" Paul shouted after throwing the ball on his field.

"Tor terraaaa!" Paul's fully evolved starter Pokemon roared as loud as it could, announcing its arrival on the field.

At the sight of Paul's Torterra, Ash was a bit surprised. He knew that Torterra was Paul's starter and one of his strongest Pokemon, if not the strongest. Hence, he didn't expect him to use it so soon in the match. It was as if Paul expected a repeat of what happened at Lake Acuity.

"So, you want to start strong, do you?" Ash threw his own Pokemon on the field and calmly said. "Torkoal, I choose you!"

"Torkoaaaal!" The Hoenn-native Fire-type shouted his name upon freeing himself from the Pokeball.

Just then, something that everyone least expected happened; Paul called his Torterra back in its Pokebal, taking everyone by surprise. Tactically, it wasn't a wrong move but the timing of it was surprising. Without even trying to fight, just to check whether he could win at a type disadvantage or not, Paul had retreated and recalled his Grass-type Pokemon back.

"That was quite a move by Paul. Before I even got to introduce you to our commentary team for today's match, Paul had made a huge move that could affect the battle hugely!" The MC shouted in a clearly shocked voice. "Now, before Paul makes any more of such mind blowing moves, let me welcome out special commentators for the quarter finals : From the Sinnoh Elite Four, Flint – The Fire-type expert and Lucian – the Psychic type specialist. And to accompany the two gentlemen in the commentary box will be the beautiful princess and Elite Four member from Unova, Caitlin, another Psychic-type specialist."

Right after the MC spoke of the three Elite Four members, the entire crowd erupted and all their gazes left the battlefield and turned towards the commentary. Another huge roar left the crowd when it was confirmed that the commentator wasn't lying; the three big shots that he just mentioned were indeed seated in the box and displayed on the huge screen.

The crowd just cheered for the Elite Four for a few moments before they finally realized that they had come to watch the battle, not the commentators. Their gazes returned to the battlefield where a slightly confused referee was made to stop Paul from releasing his next Pokemon.

"Resume the battle!" he exclaimed.

On queue, Paul who'd been ready with his second Pokeball for ages grunted before releasing his second Pokemon for the match. "Gastrodon, stand by for battle!" In a flash of light, now, Paul's Gastrodon took its position on its trainer's side, yelling its name once like all others.

"It's ironic." Ash said in an amused tone. "Something very similar happened in our battle at Lake Acuity as well. That time, I was the one on the defensive and this time it's you."

"Don't get the wrong idea. I didn't recall Torterra because I thought it might lose to your Torkoal just because of a type disadvantage. I just have a particular time in mind to use it." Paul retorted in his usually cold voice.

"Let's see if that ploy works. Torkoal, start off with Flamethrower!" Ash commanded.

The Coal Pokemon gaped open his mouth, summoning red hot flames from his belly. In the very next moment, Torkoal fired a jet of red-orange flames towards his opponent, Gastrodon, who didn't move in the slightest.

Paul saw the incoming Flamethrower and tried to counter. "Gastrodon, use Muddy Water!"

Gastrodon released spiraling brown water from its body and just before the Flamethrower hit it, the Water and Ground-type let the stream of Muddy Water crash into the Flamethrower. Smoke arose at the collision of opposite types, concealing the condition of Paul's Gastrodon.

* * *

**I know, I know, this chapter didn't contain a lot of action. But, this is a really significant chapter as far as plot goes. I went through the previous couple of chapters before starting this one and I noticed that the rhythm of the story would be off if the battle between Ash and Paul too soon. Of course, all the event in this chapter are no filler, they are pretty relevant in the upcoming chapters; well at least, most of them.**

**What kind of plot are Team Plasma planning? Who knows.**

**A few questions were asked in the reviews so I'll answer them here :**

**Q1. Is there gonna be romance with Cynthia?**

**A. Do I really need to say?**

**Q2. How will romance between Ash and Cynthia work when they choose different paths?**

**A. I don't know, honestly. There are many ways to deal with it. They don't necessarily need to be together all the time.**

**Q3. Will Ash go to Unova and Kalos in this fic? Will Tobias have more than just Darkrai and Latios?**

**A. Yeah, he will go to Unova, that's for sure. I plan on taking him to Kalos too, but it might conflict with the "Prince of Kalos" story I have. Besides, it's still far away so no need to worry about Kalos yet. ****About Tobias' Pokemon, I can't reveal them just yet. He may have one or two more or he may not. Either way, revealing that now would just take the fun away.**

**I still haven't ruled out the possibility of Pearlshipping yet. I mean there will be Rayshipping for sure but there might be Pearl as well. Not sure how it'll go. Thankfully, I still have time till the end of the League to figure all those things out.**

**Again, sorry for the long wait. I will try to finish and publish the next chapter ASAP!**

**I hope you were pleased with the chapter and enjoyed it! See you guys next time!**


	8. The Rivals' Past, Present and Future

**_The Rivals' Past, Present and Future_**

* * *

**Hello again, people! I have made you wait a long time for this but i am finally here with this chapter. Like I said in the announcement I made last time, I've really been busy with studies and college. These damn tests, assignments and just attending college recently. **

**Anyways, I won't make you guys wait any longer so you can have the chapter. I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

The white smoke that covered the field due to the collision of Fire and Water-Type moves steadily began to clear out. As everyone's anticipation reached its peak, both Torkoal and Gastrodon emerged completely unharmed at the clearance of the smoke. Gasps left the spectator's lips as they relaxed into their seats.

* * *

"That Torkoal has been well trained." Flint of the Sinnoh Elite Four lauded from the commentator's box, a smile crossing his face. "Taking out a Water-Type move with just a Flamethrower tells you of the way it has been trained."

Upon hearing the praise for Ash's Torkoal from Flint, Lucian began his own analysis. "I haven't heard lots of compliments to Fire-Types from Flint. So that Torkoal must be strong. However," The blue-haired Elite Four member chuckled. "Gastrodon's attack wasn't its most powerful. I can just tell that it was simply warming up. The real battle hasn't even started."

"Indeed." Flint agreed. The other person in the commentary box, Caitlin, simply tittered without speaking a word before turning her attention back to the battlefield where the trainers seemed ready for many more of such intense rounds.

Ash stood still, much to the surprise of everyone watching including Paul. They all wondered why Ash wasn't recalling Torkoal and switching it out. After all, Paul with his Water and Ground-Type Gastrodon held a major advantage against Ash's Fire-Type. The spectators and even Paul realized that Ash very well knew that his chances of winning this duel between Torkoal and Gastrodon was low. However, they just couldn't comprehend why the raven-haired trainer wouldn't use another Pokemon to counter.

"Why isn't Ash switching Pokemon?!" Barry asked loudly as he eyed the battle between his two self-proclaimed rivals with utmost interest.

The blonde boy immediately received an answer from Brock sitting beside him. "I think its because Ash wants to check just how strong he has gotten. You see, Ash is a different type of trainer. His methods are what you'd call… unconventional."

After the passage of a few more seconds, Paul wailed lightly from across the field. He appeared clearly annoyed by Ash not doing anything and he decided to make him pay the price. "Gastrodon, use Surf!" He commanded.

Gastrodon cried out its name and in an instant, a huge wave of water was summoned. The Sea Slug Pokemon rode the pure blue wave of water it created, heading straight towards Torkoal at decent speed.

The incoming attack made Ash narrow his eyes. Nonetheless, he still retained his composure, apparently not worried about countering Gastrodon's Water-Type move. Just as the Surf was about to hit Torkoal, Ash finally gave his orders. "Torkoal, use Iron Defense quickly!"

The wave of water crashed into Torkoal at full speed at that instant and no one knew exactly what happened there. As the stream of water hit one of the boundaries of the battlefield, covering Torkoal in it, Gastrodon jumped above and landed in front of its trainer. Slowly, the water disappeared and the sight of a Torkoal inside its shell driven towards the edge of the field could be seen.

The referee closely observed Torkoal to check if it was still able to battle. Just as he was about to raise the flag towards Paul, Torkoal's shell moved and the Coal Pokemon's head and legs emerged from the shell.

"Kooaaal Tor!" The Fire Turtle Pokemon roared.

"Way to go, Torkoal!" Ash complimented with a smile of pride on his face. He never doubted that Torkoal would take the hit and still be able to battle, but what he wanted to know was how far had his training in defense taken him and Torkoal. And with that much resistance against a Super-Effective move – even though Iron Defense had boosted Torkoal's defenses – Ash couldn't ask for anything more.

The crowd too, cheered as they realized that even after taking the direct hit from Surf, Torkoal still stood strong only taking minor damage against such a strong Water-Type move.

* * *

"Ash wants to gauge how strong his Pokemon have gotten." Brock completed his explanation to Barry, whose eyes shined with more respect for his friend from Pallet Town. "And for him, the best way would be to battle against all odds, just like he is doing here."

"I didn't know Ash was that awesome!" Barry took a boxing-like stance, standing up on his seat and anticipating just how would Ash try to win against Paul's Gastrodon with his Torkoal.

"Seems like it won't be easy for Paul to break through that incredible defense of Torkoal's." Caitlin opined from the commentary box. Her first comment about the match was met with loud cheers, some young men from the stands going ballistic with their screams. "Even so, I can't quite understand why Ash is still fighting with Torkoal. The ideal way to go about things would be to save his Torkoal for Paul's Grass-

* * *

Type, now that he knows Paul's using one." She completed her analysis, curiously eyeing Ash and his Torkoal, trying to figure out what Ash was up to.

"Alright, its out turn to strike now," Ash said. He pointed his palm towards Paul and Gastrodon and shouted, loud enough for everyone to hear. "Surround Gastrodon with Heat Wave!"

Instantly, Torkoal opened its mouth, forming an orange ball of fire in its mouth. Then, it released red-orange waves of flames from the ball. The waves appeared to spread covering more and more area as they traveled their way towards Paul's Slug Pokemon.

"Hmmh.." Paul snickered before grinning as he thought of a way to avoid the Heat Wave. "Fire Ice Beam on the ground!" he ordered.

"What?!" Ash shouted in astonishment.

His surprise was shared by all the spectators as well as the commentary team consisting of the Elite Four, who gasped at the exuberant move pulled off by Paul's Gastrodon. By using Ice Beam on the ground, Gastrodon was able to leap in the air and successfully avoid Heat Wave.

While the crowd were in awe of the amazing innovation used by Paul, a few of the people watching were surprised for a different reason. However, Dawn, Barry and even Brock gasped, realized that this wasn't something Paul would do; he was simply too arrogant to do that. Or so they thought.

"That's how Ash has used his Pokemon to dodge some of the attacks." Dawn said with eyes wide open in shock.

"I can tell that this is not something that Gastrodon has done for the first time." An equally surprised Brock stated, placing a hand under his chin.

"If that is the case, this Paul won't be an easy opponent to defeat for Ash. If Paul has learnt these techniques from seeing Ash, then Ash is about to find out just how terrifying his own battle style is." Professor Oak said.

On the field, Paul saw the look on Ash's face and made sure to use the chance he had while Ash was still startled by his move. "Gastrodon, aim a Sludge Bomb at Torkoal from right up there!"

Paul's order snapped Ash out of his little daze. "Don't get ahead of yourself, Paul." Ash smirked. "Your Gastrodon is vulnerable in the air. Now Torkoal, use Overheat!"

The Sea Slug Pokemon formed a brown-colored bomb in its mouth and shot it down towards Torkoal. However, Torkoal, too was ready as it opened its mouth which glowed white with energy forming inside. Soon with the holes on its shell glowing white, the Coal Pokemon fired a silverfish flame which had red-range colored heat spiraling around it. The two attacks met in mid-air but Overheat quickly overpowered Sludge Bomb, much to Paul and Gastrodon's shock.

The Fire-Type attack of Torkoal's then hit Gastrodon right on the neck, scoring a direct hit on the immobile Water-Type, who found it unable to avoid in mid-air. Gastrodon grunted as it was sent backwards by the force and landed on the ground.

Paul gritted his teeth in annoyance that his own plan backfired. Gastrodon did manage to avoid Heat Wave but due to it being in the air, took a direct hit from a much more powerful Overheat.

"Snap out of it and use Muddy Water again!" Paul shouted.

"Gastroooodon!" Paul's blue Pokemon obeyed and released spiraling brown water from its body. It then aimed the spinning water torrent towards Torkoal.

For a brief moment, Ash appeared to be amazed. 'It recovered quickly. That's to be expected from Paul's Pokemon.' He simpered half-heartedly before turning his attention back to Torkoal. 'I can't use Overheat too many times or it wont have much effect. It's not like it's gonna do a lot of damage as it is to a Water-Type Pokemon like Gastrodon.'

"Iron Defense, Torkoal!" Ash told his Pokemon, again just before Muddy Water struck his Fire-Type turtle.

"You won't get away this time." Paul snorted. His tone held the usual confident vibe to it; something his voice had lacked throughout this battle so far. "Use Scald and aim for inside Torkoal's shell!"

In a similar way to how it endured the Surf from Gastrodon earlier, Torkoal appeared to have reduced the damage of Muddy Waterby using Iron Defense. But before Torkoal knew it, it was again struck by a stream of hot water that Gastrodon fired at it. The Fire Turtle Pokemon didn't come out of its shell to try and take as less damage as possible but something really nasty struck it right then.

"Torkoaaaaaaal!" Ash's Fire-Type cried out in agony. Just as Paul had said, Gastrodon fired its Scald attack inside the holes in Torkoal's shell which forced Torkoal out, also dealing Super-Effective damage that could not be evaded this time around.

For the first time in that fight, a look of concern crossed Ash's feature. "Hang in there, Torkoal." Ash whispered, concern evident in his voice as he watched Torkoal slowly get back on its feet.

The reason for the confidence he had that he would be able to defeat Gastrodon with his Torkoal was based around Torkoal's iron Defense which would minimize any damage Gastrodon could do with its Water-Type moves. But now that Paul had found a way to counter it, Ash knew he needed to make a quick move and find a way to end the match quickly before his Torkoal reached its limits.

* * *

"This match seems to be going in Paul's favor now." Sitting comfortably inside the commentary box, Will of the Psychic-Type, spoke through the microphone. "It will be interesting to see how Ash will try and come back."

"As a Fire-Type specialist, I would like nothing more than to see a Fire-Type defeat its greatest weakness in water. But, this is not going according to the script Ash though of, that's for sure." Flint commented.

Caitlin chuckled sitting besides the two. "This is a 6-on-6 match. Either one of these trainers can make a comeback at any time."

* * *

"Torkoal, use Body Slam!" Ash instructed. He wanted to deal some damage to Gastrodon and finish this bout as soon as possible, understanding that a dragged fight would only work against him. Also true was the fact that he couldn't let Torkoal completely run out of steam. It appeared exhausted as is and the amber-eyed boy couldn't afford to keep up with ineffective Fire-Type attacks,

On Ash's order, Torkoal ran forward as fast as it could, – which wasn't fast as compared to Ash's other Pokemon – and then jumped in the air, heading towards its opponent.

Paul countered, seeing this as an opportunity to strike a decisive blow. "Use Scald while its in the air!"

Gastrodon produced heated water inside its belly. However, by then, Ash's Fire-Type had already stomped on Gastrodon's face, landing the Body Slam successfully, making Gastrodon wail in agony.

"Do it now, Gastrodon!" Paul yelled, unable to stop himself from getting engulfed in the heat of the battle.

Realizing the anger, Ash called emergently. "Get outta there, Torkoal!"

A smirk formed on Paul's lips when Torkoal proved to be unable to escape in time and Gastrodon's Scald sent Torkoal flying towards Ash's side of the boundary. The Coal Pokemon didn't just take damage from the Super-Effective Scald but also had bruises due to crashing into the cemented wall of the battlefield.

With eyes filled with worry, Ash looked at his Torkoal wondering if his decision to stick with the Fire-Type was indeed the correct choice. It wasn't a concern if he would lose this first round, but about the health of his Pokemon, who didn't look in the best of shapes.

Suddenly, the crowd roared loudly and started to cheer upon seeing the courageous Torkoal starting to get up on its feet. Ash's lips twitched a little forming a smile at the sight of his Pokemon giving it its all for him.

But, Paul on the other side of the battleground had different plans. He didn't care in the least if Ash's Pokemon showed fighting spirit or not. He had but one thing in mind at that point : to win the battle, and defeat Ash as crushingly as possible; make him suffer even more humiliation than he did at Lake Acuity. And he knew that an early win would only make his plans easier.

"Gastrodon, use Scald once again." Paul confidently ordered his Pokemon to use the same move to finish off its opponent once again.

Ash clenched his fists in frustration. 'I should never have let this happen. But I can't go back now.' Ash thought to himself with a defiant look on his face when he saw that Torkoal was back on its feet, albeit shakily and panting heavily. "There no more time to hold back and save energy. Torkoal, use Overheat with all you've got!" he shouted.

With a cry of its name, Torkoal formed a silver orb in its mouth and soon enough, fired the silver flame which got covered by spinning red-orange waves of heat. The Overheat met with the incoming Scald of Gastrodon's and both the attacks fought for dominance. Naturally, the Water-Type Scald held the advantage but Torkoal wasn't ready to give an inch, not letting Gastrodon gain anything on it. The two attack stayed in stalemate for a few seconds and the crowd got into the act, cheering the two Pokemon on.

But in the end, there could only be one victor. The Water-Type attack of Gastrodon's proved to be too much for the tired Torkoal as Scald ran through the weakened Overheat and hit Torkoal dead on. The Fire-Type cried in pain as Scald did it's work of bathing Gastrodon's opponent in hot water. Instantly, Torkoal's body gave in and it fell on the ground, swirls covering its eyes.

This time, the referee had no doubt in his mind when he announced the result of the first round of that quarter final match. "Torkoal is unable to continue, Gastrodon wins!" He raised the green flag towards Paul.

Ash pointed his Pokeball at his Torkoal without wasting any time. His eyes show only disappointment, not in his Pokemon, but in himself. He indeed wanted to check if his Pokemon could defeat a strong opponent which had its biggest weakness. But, he failed.

'You did your best, Torkoal. I'll make sure your efforts aren't in vain.' Ash smiled mildly as he placed the Pokeball back in his belt. "It's time to end this!" He announced, taking out his second Pokeball and throwing it on the field. "Go, Torterra!" The Pokeball snapped open on the field and Ash's Grass-Type of Sinnoh, Torterra materialized.

"Tooor Terraaa!" The Continent Pokemon roared, standing mightily against his foe.

"So, Ash has chosen to go with the type advantage this time. Interesting." Will chuckled, seeing Torterra come out of its ball on the field.

Paul glanced at Torterra and gave a thought if he should change Pokemon. 'Gastrodon won't last too long and it is at a massive disadvantage again a Grass-Type.' The trainer from Veilstone City took out his Pokeball but another thought that was running through his mind made him stop. 'But, if I can land even one Ice Beam, it will make defeating Torterra easy.'

"It seems like Paul won't be switching Pokemon either." Caitlin stated in the commentary box. "These two boys are so interesting."

The purple-haired trainer made his intentions clear by his first move. "Gastrodon, use Ice Beam!"

Knowing the risks of Ice Beam against his Torterra, Ash countered with his own move. "Torterra, Use Energy Ball."

A silver, cold ball of ice materialized inside Gastrodon's mouth and it soon fired the crystal-like beam at its opponent. Simultaneously, Torterra formed a green ball of energy surrounded by shining light between its own jaws. Both the Ice Beam and Energy Ball headed towards one another and crashed into each other, creating a small explosion while cancelling each other out.

And at that very moment, another composed command left Ash's lips. "Use Leaf Storm now."

The Continent Pokemon yelled out his name as the trees on its back glowed with power. In no time at all, he summoned multiple leaves that spun around dangerously in circles and soon, made their way towards Gastrodon. The Sea Slug Pokemon had no time to react at all and took the full brunt of the Leaf Strom, which proved to be the fatal blow that Paul's Pokemon needed.

"That's not possible!" An amazed Paul gasped, his eyes agape at what he had just witnessed. "It couldn't have used another move so quickly!"

* * *

In the stands, even Professor Oak appeared to be astonished. "Torterra sure is fast. It's amazing just how quickly it maneuvered those two attacks in succession without sacrificing in the power of their moves."

"That's not something every Torterra could pull off." Brock said. "While training, Ash must have realized that even if his Torterra is not as quick as some of his other Pokemon while attacking directly, Torterra's long range attacks can be sped up with proper training."

Professor Oak nodded. "Indeed. But that couldn't have been easy. It's as if Torterra has gained an ability which its not supposed to." The Professor's words felt pride which he hadn't for a long time. A boy which he'd known since his birth and even given his first Pokemon to, had come a long way.

* * *

In the middle of the field, the referee glanced at Gastrodon hard and noticing the swirls in its eyes and no movement, he made his decision. "Gastrodon is unable to battle. Torterra wins."

"You still haven't realized it yet?" Ash taunted his Sinnoh rival, a smile plastered on his face. "My Pokemon aren't the same as they were at Lake Acuity." He sighed much to the annoyance of his rival standing across him. "Nor am I the same. If I was, I would've been using the same Pokemon I used there to fight you."

Paul huffed and gritted his teeth while recalling his fainted Gastrodon. He took a breath – in order to get himself back to his senses – and smirked. "We're back to square one. But I had already prepared for this." He removed another Pokeball and released his third Pokemon. "Drapion, stand by for battle!"

Out of Paul's Pokeball came out a purple Scorpion-like Pokemon which stood, almost as big as Ash's Torterra. "Draaaa!" The Fang Scorpion Pokemon roared out to its opponent, crossing its pincers as if it was challenging Torterra to a duel. Torterra wasn't one to back down as he too, returned the greeting of his opponent.

"Now, this will be interesting. A battle between two Pokemon with great attack power." Flint said, looking forward to seeing the two Pokemon on the field below clash.

"Drapion, use Pin Missile!" Paul ordered.

Without any delays, Drapion extended its claws, which shone silver and then suddenly launched a barrage of missile-like arrows at its opponent.

Ash let out a laugh hearing Paul's command. "Make a wall with Rock Climb to block Pin Missille." He said.

Torterra obliged, lifting his front legs and banging them onto the ground with raw power. Suddenly, the ground in front of Torterra started to rise, creating a wall. The execution of Rock Climb was quick enough from Torterra to block each and every one of Drapion's Pin Missile that headed his way.

"What?!" Paul scowled. He had been completely taken aback by this new trick that Ash pulled out. The purple-haired teenager gritted his teeth; the reason for his exasperation wasn't that his Pokemon's attack failed but rather because the rival that'd troubled him the most had gotten even better. He would never admit it, but in all his time as a trainer, he was never so annoyed or vexed himself over anyone he fought. But, Ash was different. Even though he had defeated Ash almost every time they had battled, he still felt he hadn't won. And that was the reason why Paul wanted to crush Ash right here, at a big stage like the Sinnoh League. Only then would he feel satisfied; only then would he truly believe he'd won against Ash.

* * *

In one of the parts of the stadium, a certain young Champion of Sinnoh seemed amused. "Seems like the real battle is about to begin." She thought out loud, her eyes twinkling with excitement of watching the battle. The blonde had been looking forward to this inevitable clash between rivals whose struggle to beat one another she'd witness quite a few times lately. She too, understood that whoever wins this battle will consider themselves victorious, irrespective of what might have happened in their earlier battles.

"That move was thought out by Ash beforehand." Flint said from the commentary box with a smile, which clearly revealed his captivation and curiosity for this ongoing battle. "Ash read Paul's move. That boy never fails to amaze me."

Caitlin tilted her head to the side, facing Flint whose earlier statement had evidently got her interest. "He doesn't I see. So, you've been following him, huh?" Moments passed but she never got her reply from Flint who seemed too engrossed to answer her; also making Caitlin assume The Fire-Type Elite Four's answer as positive.

* * *

The defensive wall created by Torterra fell down after he smashed the ground again, shouting his name in victory. But contrary to what Torterra expected, Drapion didn't seem to back down.

"Torterra, use Energy Ball." Ash shouted. He wanted to take a quick lead in this battle.

The massive Grass and Ground-Type opened his mouth, in which a green Energy Ball started to form again. He shot the Grass-Type move at Drapion who didn't seem to be moving.

Paul waited and waited before finally giving his orders. "Drapion, cancel it out with Cross Poison!"

And just as the Energy Ball seemed to be getting close, Drapion showed amazing agility in forming an X with its pincers. As its pincers shone with purple poison energy, it fired the Cross Poison just in the nick of time to deflect Energy Ball.

Paul graveled when he saw that even though Cross Poison avoided the full damage of Energy Ball, Drapion was still pushed back and made to dig its claws in the ground by the sheer force of Energy Ball. The result of that little clash between those two attacks did come somewhat in his favor, but not completely due to the strands of damage Drapion suffered. But that wasn't all Paul concluded; another thing he learned just now was that Ash had gotten strong, much stronger since last time. His Drapion was one of his stronger Pokemon – it being trained by his elder brother, Reggie definitely helping the cause.

When he noticed the uncertainty and the unease on Paul's face, Ash's lips made slight movement to the sides, forming almost a smile. He knew he'd shaken Paul up, which is exactly what he wanted. The opening he wanted to expose this battle would only come this way, he realized. And this seemed like the perfect opportunity for him to run through.

Quickly raising his arm, Ash ordered with a hint of certain ferociousness in his tone. "Torterra, use Earth Power!"

Torterra's body began enveloped in a golden light before it slammed its feet on the ground again. Starting from the point of impact, cracks began to form in the ground, linearly travelling at the opponent from underneath the field.

"Drapion, wait for it…" Paul said studying the path of the Earth Power carefully before he shouted. "Now, pull out of the way right now!" he screamed but a couple of seconds later, he grimaced.

Another one of Torterra's attacks had successfully hit Drapion and this time, Drapion took the full blow without any interceptions. Not to mention, the attack was super-effective against the Poison-Type. The Orge Scorpion simply wasn't fast enough to dodge an underground attack that headed to it at that speed. The Earth Power had given it a full beating blasting right below Drapion, making it cry in pain.

Paul, however, was fully aware that he needed one move to be back in this fight. He thought about calling Drapion back but he was of the mind that Drapion had a great chance of taking out Torterra. He'd even prepared Drapion for a battle against Ash's Torterra but this power was something he didn't expect from the Continent Pokemon. It was as if Torterra had mastered himself; mastered his weakness that was his massive body and transformed that into an advantage.

"Torterra, now Rock Climb while its still not recovered completely!" Ash shouted. He wouldn't want to let up a chance to make a solid strike – which could very well set a finish for this battle – pass him by.

The command by Ash brought Paul out of his train of thoughts. But, more importantly, he had to think of a way for his beaten up Drapion to get out of the way and avoid the attack. He was about to think that when it struck him; he had been thinking too defensively until now in this round. But instantly, he realized that was not the case. He had been made to think defensively by Ash. He had been falling right into his trap.

Ash's Sinnoh rival smirked. "Drapion, prepare to intercept!" he called out, which came out as a surprise to everyone who heard him. They all wondered if they heard him right.

By now, Torterra had already formed a wall of rocks from the ground, lifting Drapion at the top of the rocky wall. The Scorpion Pokemon quickly balanced itself and crossed its fangs as fast as it could, just as told by his trainer.

Just as Torterra and Drapion were about to clash, Paul changed plans again. "Now, catch it and use Poison Fang!"

Drapion shouted its name and to everyone's amazement caught the sides of Torterra's huge shell. Then, its fangs glowed purple and it smashed those into Torterra, who could only whimper at the damage it took from that attack. The Continent Pokemon was sent crashing down as the wall fell off, marking the first solid attack Paul's Drapion managed to land on Torterra.

A wince appeared on Ash's featured at the sight of the first blood being drawn from his Torterra, who appeared to be in some pain taking damage from the poison. However, Ash had plans; plans which he would be executing starting…. now.

Ash smiled and rested his hands in his pocket. "Torterra, use Leaf Storm."

At the order of his trainer, Torterra managed to shake off whatever dizziness it might've been feeling. He started his attack with the plants and trees on his back glowing light green and a cyclone of leaves and wind was released at Drapion.

Paul, confident in his Pokemon too, said. "Drapion, obstruct that with Cross Poison."

The Leaf Storm headed towards Drapion and started slashing into it, while Drapion crossed its pincers and countering with Cross Poison, managing to stop the damage. Soon, Drapion managed to reduce the damage of the Cross Poison quite a bit.

"What!" Paul bellowed in utter disbelief. "How did it-"

Before Paul could finish, Ash instructed loudly. "Use Crunch!"

Torterra roared, and brought its jaws down on Drapion, biting it hard and digging his fangs into his opponent.

"Draaaaaa!" Paul's Pokemon wailed but soon enough, its body gave in, having had enough. The Pokemon fell to the ground with round swirls in his eyes.

"Drapion is unable to battle, Torterra wins!" The referee announced raising the red flag in Ash's direction.

* * *

"Well, well," Will in the commentary box started. "I have never seen a Pokemon deceive its opponent Pokemon simply by using a move as cover."

"Neither Paul nor Drapion would've ever expected that Torterra would be advancing across the field while using Leaf Storm." Caitlin said after analyzing the situation thoroughly. Even she was left astounded by the unexpected move Torterra just employed to defeat Drapion.

"Lets hope this continues!" Flint, engaged in the battle completely now clutched onto the desk, leaning forward.

Leaning forward towards the television from the comfortable seat on his sofa, Reggie mused with a starred expression. "Paul chose Drapion specifically to counter Pokemon like Ash's Torterra. His strategy has backfired. But the way Torterra walked forward while using Leaf Storm at reaching Drapion exactly when it would've least expected it, that's some feat. That's not just difficult to do but a strategy that hardly anyone could even come up with." He lased his fingers and rested his chin on them. "Paul is gonna have his work cut out for him now."

* * *

On the ground, the Pokeball sucked the unconscious Drapion inside before Paul readied his next Pokeball. He threw it on the field and out came his fourth Pokemon. "Froslass, stand by for battle!" The Ice Land Pokemon opened her ghostly eyes and cried out her name in a ghastly yet high pitched tone. "Use Ice Shard." Paul ordered.

"Energy Ball!" Ash countered almost instantly from across the battlefield.

Frosslass began to float in the air and raised her hands above her head. She then formed a icy ball between her hands and shot it at her foe. Torterra, too had been forming the Energy Ball in his mouth and shot it right back at the Ice Shard. The two attacks clashed and caused a small explosion in the air.

"Froslass, use Hail and then quickly use Ice Beam!" Paul said in his cold tone, yet his command was hasty. He looked to take full advantage of his Froslass's superior movement speed as compared to Torterra adding to the fact that Froslass was fresh while Torterra would surely be exhausted after battling Drapion.

Frosslass' body glowed light blue as she floated even higher up in the air. Suddenly, the bright sunny sky turned foggy as mist covered the field. The effects of Hail became evident when some small shards of ice began dropping down from the sky.

Ash gritted his teeth for a moment. "That's Froslass's ability. This won't be easy." He mused when he noticed Froslass vanish from sight one moment and then appear at another place in another. "Lets try Leaf Storm, Torterra!"

The Continent Pokemon called out his name in uncertainty, unable to locate and fix aim at Froslass. After a few moments, he finally saw Froslass stand still, where she started to charge her Ice Beam. Torterra, concluding that this was his best chance to hit Froslass in this hailstorm, released the leafy Cyclone to where he thought Froslass was. Although, the Ice Land Pokemon enhanced with her Snow Cloak ability avoided the Leaf Storm with ease. And at that exact moment, she fired the Ice Beam from point blank range at Torterra.

"No, Torterra!" Ash shouted out. The trainer winced at the sight of Torterra taking the Ice Beam right at the head after Froslass appeared out of nowhere. Fortunately, even though it was a Super-Effective hit against a Grass and Ground-Type like Torterra, his superb defenses managed to keep Torterra in the game. Torterra roared, even though, it appeared in pain but Ash knew that this weather along with the massive type disadvantage would prove to be a problem.

With his eyes narrowed, Ash raised Torterra's Pokeball. "Torterra, return." Even though, Torterra wasn't out of the game by a fair way, Ash knew better than to just hand Paul a victory. He then drew forth his third Pokeball from his belt and pointed it forward. "Croconaw, I choose you!"

The Pokeball in Ash's hand opened up and in a flash of red light, the Big Jaw Pokemon from the Johto region took field.

"Naw Croconaw!" He yelled. His opened his jaw agape, putting on show, his sharp fangs which shone. Suddenly, the Water-Type jumped up and began dancing around, while calling out his names multiple times. "Croco Croco Croconawww!"

"Is it dancing?" Caitlin questioned over the microphone.

Will touched back the strip between his glasses and replied. "It sure is!" He chuckled. "That Croconaw is probably the happiest Pokemon I have seen on a battlefield. It doesn't have a care in the world."

However, even though the stadium began to fill with laughs of the spectators, Paul remained unfazed and unmoving, surrounded the haze. As soon as the referee signaled for the match to resume, Paul gave a command without the slightest of emotions. "Shadow Ball."

The trainer from Pallet Town on the other side of the field didn't let the crowd disrupt his concentration either. He remained focused on the battle that was about to begin; thoughts jumbling inside his head as to which kind of strategy should he use to confront this foggy field, where Paul held the advantage.

"Croconaw, dodge it and then use Hydro Pump!" Ash said loudly. The stadium again began to try to watch the battle as best as they could through the fog after hearing the attacking orders of the two participants.

In the air, Froslass' palms sparkled with blackish energy. She then joined her hands together, between which a black ball of energy began to form. Meanwhile, Croconaw open his jaws wide and blasted a swirling jet of water at Froslass who shot her Shadow Ball at Croconaw as two attack met and Hydro Pump easily broke through the Shadow Ball but to Croconaw and Ash's surprise, Froslass had already vanished in the hailstorm.

"Damn it!" Ash cursed under his breath. "Where is it?"

And just when Ash least expected it, Froslass emerged out of nowhere and hit Croconaw with a Shadow Ball that she'd created. The crowd was left speechless at Froslass' amazing speed under the hailstorm which had sent Croconaw crashing back.

The only action Ash could take was grit his teeth; Froslass and Paul were getting into the groove. 'There has to be a way for me to hit Froslass.' He desperately searched for a tactic to counter The Ice and Ghost-Type's Snow Cloak ability that proved to be a problem. He could wait for Hail's effect to end but who knew how much damage Froslass would've done by then.

"Froslass, use Ice Beam!" Paul commanded again. He saw this as a great opportunity to run through a couple of Ash's Pokemon, while the Pallet boy was still confused.

"Croconaw, Bite!" Ash called out frantically after he noticed Froslass sneak through the breeze from the corner of his eye.

Froslass shot the Ice Beam through her hands while Croconaw charged at his opponent with an open mouth. This time though, Croconaw successfully jumped and evaded the Ice Beam, taking Froslass by surprise and biting her down. The Super-Effective Dark-Type move appeared to have caused Froslass some damage as the previously unharmed Pokemon retreated back into the fog.

Ash studied Froslass for a few more moments before coming up with a plan that he decided to go through with. "Croconaw, return." He said while raising the Crocodile Pokemon's ball, which sucked him inside.

* * *

"Paul is getting to Ash for sure!" Barry said.

"That may be true." Brock admitted hesitantly, his gaze glued to the battlefield in anticipation of Ash;s next move. "But I think we're about to see something spectacular." He completed his statement as a smile made its way to his tanned face.

Dawn beside the two titled her head. "Spectacular?" She wondered. "You mean some kind of crazy move?"

Professor Oak nodded. "Yes. Ash may have changed but the way he battles will never change." He explained, getting the attention of the group as well as some of the other people sitting nearby, who were inevitably interested in the famous researcher's opinions and thoughts. "And that will prove out to be Ash's biggest strength."

* * *

Ash tickled his fingers around a couple of the Pokeballs before unclipping one of them. He intently stared at it for a short while, his face covered with a determined expression. Finally, he threw the Pokeball on the field, which snapped open and the Pokemon caged inside of it materialized on the field.

When the pokemon that emerged from Ash's Pokeball got revealed, two humands and a cat-like Pokemon serving snacks in the stadium turned their eyes on the field. They left all their work and intently looked at the Pokemon they had come to console; the one who they thought had been suffering like themselves.

"It's our Infernape!" Meowth of Team Rocket exclaimed as his eyes twinkled with excitement.

"It's time to take revenge against that purple-haired brat!" Jessie, disguised with the help of her glasses said.

"Innn-fernapee!" The Ape Pokemon yelled and then straightaway glared at the person on the opposite side. He'd been preparing for this – a battle to show Paul just how strong he was. Infernape knew that Paul acknowledged his hidden strength but what the Flame Pokemon wanted to prove to his former trainer as well as everyone else was that he could summon that vicious strength at will.

"Infernape, its time to end things with Paul, once and for all." Ash confidently told his Fire-Type. "Flamethrower!" he commanded.

Instantly, Paul fought back and yelled. "Dodge it and use Shadow Ball!"

Taking no time at all, Infernape took a deep breath and fired a powerful jet of red hot flames at Froslass. Surprised by the agility shown by Infernape, Froslass dodged for her life. However, she could only move a little before most of the left part of her body became engulfed in the Flamethrowe, causing super-effective damage to the Ice-Type. She cried out her name,m retreating backwards.

"Now, Flare Blitz!" Ash made another move with the same ferocity as the first one.

And Infernape responded just as quickly, if not quicker. His body became engulfed in flames as he bent down and launched itself at Froslass. The fire surrounding Infernape was so intense that the fog and hail around him disappeared immediately and as he made his way forward, the clouds began to retreat. Froslass had just formed half a Shadow Ball before she saw Infernape shooting himself towards her.

"Infernape's faster than before!" Paul gasped in astonishment. He gritted his teeth and as quick as he possibly could, the trainer from Veilstone City removed Froslass' Pokeball and pointed it at her. "Return Froslass." Was Paul's panicstriken cry.

Just in time, the flash of light managed to reach Froslass and suck it inside, forcing Infernape's attack to pass through thin air and miss in the process. Ash smirked at the move by Paul. Again, he'd forced his rival to make a change. He knew that right now, he was in complete control of the battle. For the first time, it was Ash who was managing to read through Paul. It felt good, Ash noted. He wanted like to feel this way in every battle he would be part of.

Meanwhile, the commentators continued their conversation while also voicing their thoughts on the match.

* * *

"That was quick!" Caitlin sighed, wiping her forehead of some imaginary sweat in the air conditioned Commentary Box. "Paul proved to be just quick enough to dodge Ash's Outrage!" she said playfully while letting out a chuckle.

A complete contrasting reaction could be seen on Flint's face. "Ash's Infernape has gotten stronger... Way stronger. Just like the rest of his Pokemon." He commented. His voice held a hint of pride in it; he felt as if he was seeing a new legend develop.

"Paul will have to think of a strategy to deal with that kind of speed. Froslass was fast, but Infernape is even faster than it enhanced with Snow Cloack." Will said; the smile on his face showed just how much he was enjoying this battle even though there was no Psychic-Type involved in the fight thus far.

"Torterra's raw power and now Infernape's speed. The results of Ash's training continue to impress." Cynthia proudly said to no one in particular.

Mr. Goodshow sitting next to her nodded his head repeatedly, too stuck on the battle to even move his gaze or utter a word in reply. Cynthia, though couldn't comprehend why she felt that bit of pride when seeing Ash grow. It wasn't as if she'd trained Ash or any of his Pokemon. The most she had done to him of benefit would be give him a few words of advice; that too only on a rare few occasions that they met in Sinnoh.

* * *

With an unpleased expression on his face, Paul threw his fifth Pokeball forward. The ball opened up to reveal a brown, bear-like Pokemon. "Uwaaaaaa!" The Hibernation Pokemon roared, lifting his arms in the air. He then glared at its opponent who was someone he'd previously battled against as well as trained with. Ursaring smirked and made a motion with him right palm, attempting to provoke Infernape. "Urrr urrr!" it challenged.

However, Infernape remained unfazed. He just kept watching his opponent and did not give Ursaring any heed at all. He simply waited for his trainer – the only human who he truly followed – to give his orders. He didn't have to wait long as one came searing through Ash's mouth.

"Mach Punch, go!"

Infernape's fist glowed white and at almost unbelievable speed, the Ape Pokemon dashed at Ursaring, who'd been continuously mocking him.

* * *

**So, how was the chapter? Don't old back your thoughts!**

**Also, I have a quick announcement to make. There is some fanfiction competition going on a site name inkitt. I've uploaded this story there although I don't really have high hopes since this is a Pokemon story and it is written by me. LOL**

**However, I would appreciate if you could vote for it there if you like my story. The link is : www . inkitt stories / 29257 **

**Remove all the spaces. Or, you could just go to inkitt . com and search for "A Legend Awakened". You have to click some heart button to favorite/vote the story which really counts. **

**Thanks for reading the chapter. Review with whatever critique you have (not flames) so that I can improve. The next chapter might be up in a couple of weeks or next week, whenever I finish it. **

**Until next time...**


	9. The Final Piece

**_The Final Piece_**

* * *

**Hi again! What have you guys been up to? I've been somewhat busy as usual.**

**I finally managed to keep up with my schedule of update this time. I told you that I would update in two weeks and I did. Ain't I awesome? **

**Anyways, I had a small announcement to make regarding my update for the next month or so. I am going to update this story every week or maybe sometimes in two weeks. I have started a new story named "Gem in Diamonds" which I am going to update in tandem with this one. Both those stories are the only ones I will write for a month or so. It would be awesome if you guys could check it out and give me your thoughts on the first chapter I wrote here : ****s/11562325/1/Gem-in-Diamonds (add fanfiction dot net/ before that story link)**

**That's all I've got to say for now. Enjoy!**

* * *

Ursaring had faced Infernape as a Chimchar but never faced him in his evolved form. However, the Hibernation Pokemon was confident in defeating the Pokemon that his trainer abandoned. Like Paul, Ursaring was of the same mind that only the strong may survive; the weak might as well disappear with no trace at all.

However, this was something Ursaring could only think before it was struck on the face by the searing Mach Punch of Infernape's. The impact of the punch was so strong that Ursaring was sent flying backwards; the point of impact swelling red. The face which once held a smirk now turned into a scowl.

"Urrrr!" Ursaring roared frantically bellowing his arms up and down in rage. It couldn't believe at how unbelievably fast and powerful that single Fighting-Type move was.

"Ursaring, don't muck around." Paul warned his Pokemon with a stern look. "Use Hammer Arm!"

Ursaring obeyed, raising his arms high, one of which started glowing white. He then dashed across the field where Infernape had jumped back after his Mach Punch.

But Ash's remained unmoved for the longest time. Even as Urasring charged in with his attack, Ash's eyes simply stayed fixed at Infernape. And then, Ash's move finally came. "Don't let it hit you, Infernape. Show Ursaring that it can't even touch you if it's that slow."

A nod came from Infernape but even if Ash didn't tell him to, he wasn't about to be hit by the likes of Ursaring for no reason. Just as Ursaring brought his Hammer Arm down on the Ape Pokemon, he narrowly moved his chest backwards and did a back-flip to gain a bit of distance, easily evading the attack.

"Flamethrower now!" Ash shouted.

Paul realized that trying to dodge would be futile and hence made a defensive move instead. "Brace for impact, Ursaring!"

Opening his mouth wide, Infernape fired a jet of flames right in front of him where Ursaring stood. The Normal-Type crossed his arms and held them in front of his face in order to reduce the damage to as much extent as possible. But, even if its face was saved, Ursaring cried out in pain as his arms were made to suffer from the fire.

"Snap out of it and use Thrash!" Paul ordered mercilessly. He didn't care if Ursaring had suffered damage; as long as he kept pushing Ash and winning, it would end well in his opinion. Although, one could say that he began to care more about his Pokemon after having multiple encounters with Ash, he still remained him usual self for the most part.

"Enough playing around. Infernape, its time for Close Combat!" Ash told his Pokemon blandly. But no matter how simple his voice sounded, he was eagerly looking forward to what would happen in the next few seconds.

Upon hearing Close Combat, Infernape smirked ever so slightly. The move he'd worked hard to perfect day in and day out with Sceptile was finally about to reap rewards. As he saw Ursaring beginning to move, he readied himself. The arms were thrown wide to the sides as Infernape bent slightly. He then ran forward, sacrificing all of its defense and concentrating on offense alone. Before Ursaring could even react, Infernape had began his own thrashing, landing an uppercut on Ursaring's chin then bashing several punches in his opponent's gut, whose eyes widened. Finally for the big finish, he jumped in the air as his feet were on the same level as Ursaring's face and then kicked the Hibernation Pokemon just once. However, that one kick was enough to silence the crowd, Paul and most importantly Ursaring.

The referee raised the red flag towards Ash and declared. "Ursaring is unable to battle. Infernape wins!"

* * *

"My word!" Will gasped from the commentary box. "That was annihilation!"

A nod of agreement came from the person sitting next to him. "Indeed. That's a total victory for Ash. Even though Paul's Normal-Type Ursaring was at a total disadvantage against Ash's Fighting-Type Infernape, that round didn't seem like a battle between two Pokemon of the same level at all." Caitlin said of what she thought of the recent events on the field down below. "One of the two was clearly superior."

'Well, well. That Infernape of Ash's might even give mine a run for its money.' Flint mused in thought while placing a hand under his chin. "That was definitely a quick match." He commented through the microphone, not wanting to be the only one to go unspoken of the match just now.

* * *

"Infernape has finally tasted revenge!" A super-happy, almost teary-eyed James of Team Rocket exclaimed from the sidelines, completely forgetting his job of selling the eatables.

Equally happy, Moewth and Jessie both nodded their heads. Team Rocket had watched how Infernape was treated by Paul as a Chimchar. Even they found it stupid of Paul to treat Pokemon that way. No matter how low the trio of Jessie, James and Meowth were, they always held the belief that Pokemon should be treated just as nicely as humans. And they found it extremely irritating of Paul to just use his Pokemon the way he did. In fact, they felt a connection to Infernape – not that there ever was one; the way they were treated by most other members of Team Rocket as pests.

Forming a stance with her arms in front of her face, Jessie shouted, amazingly with pride. "Now Infernape, show that bastard former trainer of yours how strong you've become by blasting us off over and over again!"

* * *

"So Paul, do you still think you can win?" Ash questioned his rival, a confident yet mocking smirk on his face.

Without replying to Ash, Paul simply raised Ursaring's Pokeball and recalled the fainted Pokemon. After switching the ball with another one, he finally replied. "Yes, I do."

A chuckle left Ash's lips at the straightforward answer he received from the purple-haired trainer. "That's awesome! It wouldn't be much fun if you'd have already given up." And surprisingly, even before Paul had revealed the Pokemon he was going to use for that round, the black-haired trainer from Pallet Town simply recalled his Infernape without uttering a word.

The move astonished everyone; yes Ash was unpredictable but why would he even switch out a Pokemon who'd just won a match without even having a scratch on it? It simply didn't make sense.

A vein appeared on Paul's forehead when Ash called back Infernape. "That unpredictability of yours has worked so far but you know," he started, irritation evident in his voice. "You might lose this if you try to avoid logic too much."

"Are you sure you should be worrying about me right now?" Ash asked, leaning backwards and raising an eyebrow. "You're the one who's most likely to lose from here."

Paul let out a huff at Ash's response. "Don't be so sure." He tossed his next Pokeball on the field and yelled. "Froslass, standby for battle!"

"Alright then. Donphan, I choose you!" Ash too, threw his Pokeball on the field to reveal the identity of his fifth Pokemon.

As the Ice-Type Pokemon of Paul's and Ground-Type one of Ash's materialized on the field, Paul quickly realized that he might have the advantage this time. He remembered the first battle between Gastrodon and Torkoal and saw this bearing a similar result if he played his cards properly enough.

Meanwhile, on the field both the Pokemon took a measure of each other by glaring at one another. None of the two even blinked, as if they were in a staring contest. However, both of them stayed alert' ready to move as soon as they received their orders.

"Donphan, start with Stone Edge." Ash ordered calmly, aiming for super-effective damage.

Paul wasn't one to fall behind though as he too shouted. "Dodge the Stone Edge and use Ice Beam!"

Roaring out his name, Donphan summoned some sharp stones that levitates around him while Froslass put her hands together and began to form a ball of shining, silver ice between her palms. Both of them simultaneously let their attacks rip; Dophan sending the pointy stones at Froslass while the Ice-Type aiming the freezing beam of hard snow at her opponent.

The Stone Edge attack went past Ice Beam and smacked into Froslass, doing super-effective damage. The Ice Beam by then though was complete but its direction erred due to the impact of Stone Edge. The Armor Pokemon took the minimized damage of the Ice Beam on his front legs.

A defiant look crossed Ash's face when he realized that he had won the first round. "Earthquake, now!" The raven black-haired boy instructed his Pokemon.

Slamming his foot on the ground, Donphan created a crack which expanded and headed towards his opponent. The immobile Froslass didn't prove to be recovered enough to avoid the attack as it took massive amounts of damage from the Ground-Type attack of her opponent.

* * *

In the stands, the group appeared to be having a good time watching Ash have the edge in his long-awaited rival fight against Paul. The different things that Paul had been forced into by Ash was something they quite enjoyed. It wasn't a common sight; Paul had barely been pushed into a corner in Pokemon battles, at least as far as they knew.

"At first I wondered why Ash chose Donphan and didn't continue with Infernape when he was doing so well. But now, I understand some of his reasoning." Professor Oak remarked, without moving his gaze from the ongoing battle. When he was sure he had the attention of everyone, he continued. "It seems as if the reason wasn't just because he wanted to save Infernape for Paul's Torterra, it's also because Ash might've predicted what Paul's last Pokemon is going to be and he already knew that Paul had Froslass left."

A narrow-eyed Brock stroked his chin, understanding the reason himself. "And he thought that Donphan had the advantage against both Froslass and Paul's last Pokemon." He mused, a stray of uncertainty in his voice.

"So, it's Ash who's got Paul's number this time?" Barry wondered, dazing off.

Brock nodded. "It seems like it."

* * *

The bruises on her body seemed critical; Froslass wouldn't be lasting much long, Paul noted. The conclusion that the trainer from Veilstone City came to was that his best option would be deal as much damage to Donphan as possible before Froslass ran out of gas. Paul clenched his fists tightly; so hard that his nails dug into his palm. He had the Type-advantage and even then he couldn't win the round.

What was different? Paul had been wondering that same thing throughout this battle but couldn't find the answer to it yet. He realized that not just Ash, but something about his Pokemon too was different. But, he couldn't waste any more of his time thinking about trivial matters like that now. He was in a battle that had to be won if he wanted to stay alive in the Sinnoh League. Things didn't look too bright for him but he couldn't simply give up.

After a long, hard thought of what would be the best possible way of attack, Paul finally hung onto one he thought best. "Froslass, use Hail and then follow up with Shadow Ball."

Floating in the air, Froslass spread her arms wide and soon, a hailstorm was summoned. However, this one was much weaker in comparison to the one she summoned earlier. Then, the Ice Cloak Pokemon formed a dark, almost black ball of ghost energy in between her palms and as fast as she could in her beaten up condition, fired the Shadow Ball at Donphan.

'It'll be hard to aim right at Froslass in the hailstorm.' Ash thought as he calmly observed the moves on the field. 'I need just one more hit to finish it. But, I can't let Donphan take much damage here.'

"Use, Stone Edge with Rapid Spin to fight off the Shadow Ball, Donphan!" Ash yelled.

Donphan obliged by forming into a wheel and spinning at high speeds. Similar to what he did a while back, he summoned pointed stones and while he spun in one place, the stones simultaneously rotated along with him.

When Donphan let the stones fly at Froslass, he didn't stop spinning and was struck by Shadow Ball. Both the Pokemon received damage from their attacks; albeit to one them, it was the finishing blow. Froslass had fallen on the ground with swirls in her eyes.

Watching Froslass lay on the field without any movement, the referee raised the red flag towards Ash. "Froslass is unable to battle, Donphan wins."

Once again, Paul called back his Pokemon. It seemed as if he was cursing himself all the while he did the motion of recalling his fallen Pokemon and taking out his next one. He looked at the Pokeball for a few long moments before he finally tossed it out on the field. "Electivire, standby for battle."

Out of Paul's Pokeball came out a yellow Pokemon with black stripes on its body. It had a black spot on its forehead while it had two black, wire-like tails flowing out from its back. "Electivire!" The Motor Pokemon bellowed.

At the sight of Electivire, a grin spread across Ash's face. He had anticipated Paul using Electivire and that was the reason his Donphan was out on the field, ready to take whatever Electivire had to throw his way.

"Donphan, lets use Earthquake!" Ash ordered without any hesitation at all. He would be making full use of the type advantage he held in this match up.

"Electivire, charge at it!" Paul said, which came as a surprise to everyone who heard it.

Electivire didn't show any hesitation in obliging to what his trainer had said as he rushed down right down the ground at Donphan. On the other hand, Donphan completely ignored Electivire heading towards him as he got on its hind legs and then in one move, banged his front legs on the ground to create a fissure.

The Earthquake attack and Electivre, both neared each other with each passing millisecond. When the Earthquake finally caught up to the Electric-Type Pokemon, he was aware enough to jump up in the air. But Donphan's attack wasn't as weak as Electivire originally thought as the move's effect wasn't limited to the field itself. However, Electivire did take less damage than it would have if he were connected to the ground, he still took considerable amounts of damage.

"Use Ice Punch." Paul called out loudly.

And this was what Paul was aiming for all long. Well aware that if Electivire got close enough, he could knock out Donphan quickly, he took the gamble of battling the Earthquake. And that was about to reap rewards as Electivire's right arm became covered in ice and the Ice Punch landed right at Donphan's head.

"Doooo!" The Armor Pokemon howled in agony.

"Donphan, snap out of it!" Ash shouted in concern. His worry wasn't without reason though as Donphan was frozen as an after effect of Ice Punch. Ash gritted his teeth. He didn't want to give any opening for Paul to expose at a situation like this. That might well prove to be the chance Paul needed to get back in the game.

Paul finally let out a snicker out of his lips that he finally got some luck on his side. But soon, he became serious and took full advantage. "Now use Brick Break." This time, the thunderbolt Pokemon raised his right arm and smirking, he powerfully brought down the glowing Brick Break.

The sight brought terror to Ash's face who winced. His strategy had been destroyed. He planned to take out Electivire with the help of Donphan but that freeze really made a gaping hole in his plan.

"Donphan is unable to continue. Electivire wins!" The referee in the middle declared, lifting the green flag in Paul's direction.

"Donphan, return." Ash pointed the Pokeball towards his Donphan and the Pokemon was sucked inside in a red flash of light. The trainer then removed another Pokeball from his belt and intently stared at it. Then, he tossed it up in the air and his next Pokemon took field. The Continent Pokemon bawled out to his opponent as he arrived once again for a second round in the match.

* * *

"Paul's Electivire has Ice Punch and it will do even more damage to Torterra than it did to Donphan." Caitlin said. "Ash must have something that he believes will let him get through Ice Punch."

Beside her, Will adjusted his glasses and nodded. "This round will be quite interesting."

* * *

'If I can get a solid Ice Punch on Torterra, I'll surely win.' Paul thought as he carefully tried to analyse his next few moves. 'But, I can't let Electivire take much damage. Ash won't let Electivire get close this time. He has a number of attacks that he can use with Torterra to keep Electivire away. He can defend and attack at the same time.'

Surprisingly, Paul too decided to switch Pokemon, recalling his Electivire. The Sinnoh-native trainer could swear he saw a smirk on Ash's face as soon as he called Electivire back. Once again, this battle was going like Ash wanted.

"If it was anyone else other than Paul, he would have surely stayed with Electivire just for the single reason of not wanting Ash dictate the match." Cynthia leaned back on her seat and mused. This battle was even more fascinating that she'd thought it would be. "That would be the illogical move. It would simply have lead to Electivire losing to Torterra."

"Torterra, stand by for battle!" Paul called for his starter Pokemon for the second time in the match as well; although the first time was nothing more than a reveal on his part.

The two Torterra starting off against each other had the crowd all buzzing. The battle was already proving out to be more amazing than what they had paid for and this match between two strong starter Pokemon of the Sinnoh region proved to be another thrilling and brutal one.

"Torterra, Stone Edge go." Paul ordered calmly. He was now fighting with his strongest – the Pokemon he'd trained for the longest time and one which he knew everything about – Pokemon and he had no doubt in his victory.

A command came from Ash right after. "Counter with your own Stone Edge."

Pointy, sharp stones surrounded either one of the Torterra as they both launched their ferocious Rock-Type attacks at the same time. The stones collided in the middle of the field, almost all of them cancelling each other out. Although, not each of them were equally powerful; some of the rocks that headed Ash's Torterra's way weren't knocked out and they crashed into his face.

Ash narrowed his eyes at seeing that his Torterra's attack proved out to be inferior to Paul. And he knew the reason for that; it wasn't that his Pokemon was weaker than Paul's. It was simply a matter of exhaustion that his Torterra faced after his battle with Drapion. The Scorpion Pokemon couldn't have been an easy Pokemon to defeat and it must've taken a lot out of Torterra.

This appeared to be a chance Paul couldn't overlook. The perfect time to get through Ash's team with his strongest Pokemon wouldn't go unnoticed by Paul. "Leaf Storm now!" Paul shouted loudly.

"Use your own Leaf Storm, Torterra!" Ash instructed. Even though Ash knew that his Torterra would struggle, he couldn't simply call him back now. It would be an insult to his strength; an insult to him.

Just like the Stone Edge, the leafy cyclone released by the Torterra crashed in the middle and once again, Paul's Torterra's attack proved stronger. Ash's Torterra once again was dealt with some damage; the damage from either Stone Edge or Leaf Storm didn't turn out to be much. But, it was a matter of only Ash's taking damage while Paul's still remained unharmed.

"Use Frenzy Plant to finish this." Another call came from Paul, one which he intended would be the final order for this round. He could see the uncertainty growing on Ash's face.

The moment the order from paul reached Torterr'a ears, its body became outlined in a green aura. Soon, the massive turtle-like Pokemon slammed its front legs on the ground. The cracks which the impact formed manifested several giant roots with spikes on them, which headed towards its opponent. As fright spread through Ash's face, the Frenzy Plant had already dug themselves into his Torterra, effectively knocking him out.

"Ash's Torterra is unable to battle," The referee announced and raised the green flag towards Paul for the second consecutive time. "Paul's Torterra wins!"

"This match is more in the balance now." Flint commented through the microphone as he smiled widely, enjoying the battle to the fullest.

"You've done well, Torterra. Return now." Ash lifted his hand with Torterra's Pokeball and called him back for a well deserved rest. Ash appeared to be a little taken aback by the consecutive lossed that he suffered. Yet, he still stood in good stead; this scenario was exactly what he had waited for this entire time. Now, he could simply sweep Paul's team without a care about being at a disadvantage when it came to types. He snickered before enlarging the Pokeball which he would use next. "Paul, its finally time to put an end to it."

The concerned trainer raised an eyebrow. "Is it?"

But Ash said no more, simply letting out his next Pokemon and the one he believed would be putting an end to this fight. "It's all yours, Infernape!"

"Innnn fernape!" The Flame Pokemon bellowed as he took his position on the field.

Paul gazed at Infernape closely. The shine in his eyes; the feisty yet calm look on his face; now, Paul knew that Infernape might have just turned into the beast that he envisioned him to be. But, that same Pokemon was against him; it was up to him now to defeat that Pokemon that thought might give him the edge over others with the same amount of skill as him.

"Infernape, lets start with Flamethrower!" An assured Ash ordered.

"Withdraw." Was the only word Paul spoke.

As infernape released red hot stream of flames at Torterra, the Continent Pokemon withdrew itself in its shell. The Withdraw definitely raised Torterra's defense as it came out with only damage done to it's back from the super-effective moves. But, no matter where the effect of Flamethrower, it still remained strong. The Fire-type attack still did damage to Torterra even if it didn't show it.

"Earthquake now!" Paul shouted alarmingly. Even though he remained at a disadvantage, he knew he could count on his best Pokemon to come through for him.

"Move around the field to dodge and use Mach Punch!" Ash screamed, realizing that Earthquake could do some serious damage.

Torterra slammed its front legs on the ground and created a powerful tremor throughout the field. The Earthquake then spread but the main point of attack was still fixed at Infernape across the field. The Ape Pokemon thought moved quickly in order to evade the attack, making full use of his amazing gift of speed that he had. But even his speed couldn't stop him from suffering damage from Earthquake. He winced, letting out a cry after his Mach Punch was stopped in its tracks.

Ash gritted his teeth at his hasty, foolish move. 'That's Paul's strongest Pokemon. I shouldn't think I can deal with it with simple moves alone. But, I have the advantage that even Paul and his starter can't neutralize.'

"Use Flare Blitz."

"Frenzy Plant!"

The Pokemon commenced their moves, Torterra lifting its front legs while Infernape's body got covered in flames. As Torterra banged its legs and summoned huge spiky roots from the ground, Infernape charged at it at full speed with the flames surrounding his body beginning to turn slightly blue.

The entire stadium was engrossed in this battle which so far proved out to be nothing short of spectacular. Everyone remained on their edge of their seats as the fight evolved and the attacks of the two Pokemon started to become even more fervent.

The roots that should've been heading towards Infernape were instead forming a sort of a wall from their lower part in front of Torterra. Infernape, thought didn't stop his advance even after it saw the Frenzy Plant acting as a shield to Torterra. He simply completed his attack crashing his fire-engulfed body right into the roots. And then, what Torterra didn't expect happened. The Ground and Grass-Type was pretty confident in keeping out Infernape's Flare Blitz with its Frenzy Plant defense but Infernape appeared to be simply melting them without even the slightest bit of difficulty.

* * *

In the stands, Barry jumped out of his seat. "Infernape is so amazingly awesome!" he exclaimed as he stood on the railings, ignoring that looks he earned from the ones around him.

"Infernape has definitely gotten much stronger since I last saw him battle." Brock spoke with a hand on his chin. "Considering the growth of Ash's other Pokemon, I should've expected this though."

Dawn puched the air, her enthusiasm clearly evident in her grin. "Way to go, Infernape and Ash!"

* * *

The eyes of Paul widened. The defense that he'd worked on with Torterra especially for the Sinnoh League was being trampled upon with such ease. "Impossible!" he gasped in astonishment.

"Well Paul," Ash called out to his rival. "Infernape simply won't be taking out that shield of yours."

Paul blinked in surprise. "Huh?"

The answer to his confusion soon arrived though, as Infernape dashed with his Flare Blitz at Torterra. The thing that surprised Paul the most there was not only Infernape did take out Frenzy Plant, but it still sustained the Flare Blitz, which should've, in his opinion, already be out of fire due to the amount of power it must've took to take out those thick walls of plant, even with a Fire-Type move.

Paul could only clench his fist at his Torterra screaming pain when Infernape's Flare Blitz made contact with it. However, he wasn't simply about to give in just yet. He had a counter for Pokemon that tried to do close-up direct damage to his Torterra.

"Don't let it get away and quickly use Crunch, Torterra!" he ordered.

The exhaustion that Torterra suffered after using Frenzy Plant seemed to have been reduced when the Sinnoh Grass-Type starter bit down Infernape with everything he had.

A smirk crossed Paul face right then; he knew that Torterra had Infernape in his grip now. "Giga Drain."

"Get outta there, Infernape!" Ash frantically called out, terrified.

Even though he tried his best, Torterra was strong; it wouldn't let its opponent get away so easily after it'd got a chance which it was sure it wouldn't get again. The trees on Torterra's back glowed green as it began to suck energy from Infernape. The only action thing the Fire-Type could do was shout out in pain while Torterra began to get its energy replenished.

* * *

"This could be bad for Ash!" Brock remarked, concerned for Infernape and Ash on the field. "Giga Drain won't do too much damage to Infernape, but the main problem will be Torterra getting renergised."

Next to him, Professor Oak nodded in agreement. "Infernape will have to defeat Torterra all over from square one if that happens and it surely won't be easy."

Dawn brought her hands together in front of her chest while intently watching the battle on the field. "Be careful, Ash." She whispered to herself, squeezing her hands even more tightly.

* * *

Ash gritted his teeth in frustration. He had to do something quickly before things went out of hand for him. But, what would be the best thing to do there, he wondered. Would Infernape be able to pull an attack strong enough to get out of Torterra's grip in that condition?

The Kanto native boy decided that it would be best to make a make, ignoring the consequences. "Infernape, Flare Blitz!" he called loudly. "Don't let it use Giga Drain anymore."

At the call of his trainer, Infernape tried his best. He had pull off the focus required to pull off a strong move even in that state; failure was out of the question. Infernape shouted his name that echoed throughout the stadium and soon, his entire body became covered in flames.

"Damn!" Paul cursed under his breath.

With the flames starting to get more intense, Torterra had no choice but to let Infernape go. The Flame Blitz turned out to be so powerful that not only did it let Infernape out of Torterra's clutches, but also caused significant damage to Paul's Pokemon.

A sigh of relief left Ash's lips. "Great work." He raised his right arm and gave his next order. "Lets ed this quickly, Flamethrower at full power!"

After a few back-flips to gain distance with his opponent, Infernape opened his mouth wide and fired a jet of flames towards his opponent. And this time, the Flamethrower scored a direct hit; Torterra being unable to dodge or defend against an attack that came off almost at the speed of light to him.

Those two latest attacks seemed to have blown a fuse in Paul's head. "Use Leaf Storm!" He grated.

Ash, though, only smirked, confidently eyeing the two Pokemon on the field. "Alright, let's use Flare Blitz once again."

Infernape charged at Torterra with his body engulfed in flames, which steadily turned blue. The Leaf Storm of Torterra's proved to be no match for Infernape who simply swept through it without even the slightest bit of problems. Torterra could do nothing but cry out as it suffered the damage from Flare Blitz when Infernape viciously slammed into it without the least bit of mercy.

With no control over its body anymore, Torterra fell on the ground with swirls in its eyes while its foe, Infernape simply returned back to his trainer's side after he shook off the currents of the recoil he took from his attack.

"Torterra is unable to battle. Infernape wins!" The referee declared.

* * *

"Paul is finally down to his last Pokemon." Flint stated, lacing his fingers on the desk. "Ash still has 3 left."

Caitlin agreed instantly. "It's clear who holds the advantage right now."

A smile spread across Will's face. "Maybe Paul's Electivire can work some magic here?" Although he had just said that, he already concluded that the battle was all but over. That wasn't because Ash had more Pokemon left than Paul; well that was one of the factors. But because he believed that Ash was simply a better trainer than Paul throughout the battle.

* * *

"Return Torterra." Paul recalled his starter back and then brought forth his final Pokeball; the one with which all his hopes for the Sinnoh League laid. "Electivire, standby for battle!" he yelled as he threw the Pokeball on the field, which snapped open to let out his Electric-Type Pokemon.

"Eeelectiviire!" The Motor Pokemon roared, taking his position. A signal from his hand to give him Infernape's best soon came from Electivire.

Although, like before Infernape didn't bother to respond to the methods of his opponent's evocations. "Fernape!" was the only reply that Electivire could earn.

"Flamethrower, Infernape!" Ash shouted, taking the first move.

Paul observed Infernape's first movements before giving out his instructions. "Use Protect."

Infernape released a jet of red-orange flames at Electivire with full force. But Electivire was ready; he brought his arms forward and formed a transparent, almost invisible wall in front of him. The Flamethrower struck the wall and unable to break through, the flames dispersed in all direction but forward.

"Now use Mach Punch." Ash calmly ordered.

"Intercept with Thunderpunch!" Paul yelled.

Electivire's right arm blistered with electricity as he charged forward and Infernape too, dashed at his opponent with a glowing fist. The Pokemon met in the middle of the field clashing their fists, both the fighters giving it their best. At a stalemate, they both tried to overpower the other but failed and thus, propelled themselves back.

The battle was simply to exciting for Ash not to smile. Not only will he defeat his rival if he won this round, but also, he'd reach the Semi Final of the Sinnoh League, something he'd never achieved before. He couldn't help but show his enthusiasm on his face.

"It's time to use Dig, Infernape!" Ash instructed to his Fore-Type.

As he heard from his trainer, Infernape dug his way under the field, disappearing from sight of everyone. Paul and Electivire could only guess where Infernape would come out of as they both glanced around different parts of the field; clearly puzzled.

Paul looked at the field carefully before he finally spoke. "Use Brick Break on the ground!"

With a shout of his name, Electivire's left fist glowed silver and just about slammed it on the ground. Just about. He couldn't use the move he was supposed to as Infernape appeared right underneath Electivire and successfully completed his Dig attack, causing super-effective damage to the Thunderbolt Pokemon.

As Paul watched his Electivire struggling after taking damage from dig, he took the offensive. "Don't waste any time and use Thunder!"

The balls on the ends of Electivire's antennae became surrounded by yellow electricity and soon enough, his entire body became surrounded in electric currents. Then, it fired a blast of it at Infernape across the field.

"Run around and dodge it!" Ash told Infernape. "Don't let it hit you!"

Infernape scurried around the field, effectively avoiding any contact with the Thunder that was aimed at him. After a few blasts of electricity fired at him that he dodged, Electivire finally stopped, but not before giving a mouthful of his frustration to Infernape.

Paul gritted his teeth repugnantly. "Fire Thunder throughout the entire field now!"

"Dodge it again." Ash commanded nonchalantly, putting his hands in his pockets; something he did when he felt relaxed.

And again, Electivire fired blasts of thunder. But this time, he didn't only aim it at Infernape, but his target was the entire battlefield. Infernape ran at amazing speeds like before, dodging the few waves of electricity that headed at him but the real surprise came to him when multiple Thunders were fired at him simultaneously. Cornered, he didn't know what to do and he was this time struck by Thunder.

The Flame Pokemon yelled as electricity surged throughout his body. The attack – even though diluted due to it being divided into many blasts instead of one – still remained thunderous enough to harm Infernape at a critical level. He fell to his knees after the damage that the Thunder had dealt to him. It was an attack of a Pokemon trainer by Paul afterall.

"You remember Paul, when you told me about how you caught Infernape as a Chimchar?" Ash asked to his rival across the field with a smirk on his face, seemingly unworried about the condition of Infernape.

Paul raised an eyebrow at Ash's sudden question. "Yeah. What of it?"

Ash chuckled in amusement of Paul's ignorance. "You'll remember soon enough." He turned his eyes at Infernape who'd steadily gotten up to his feet. "It's time to show Paul what you can really do, Infernape!"

That little conversation between Ash and Paul, which everyone could hear, had gotten the crowd quite interested. It wasn't as if they were making less noise to begin with, but they only got louder in curiosity of what Ash meant.

No one had to wait long to realize what Ash meant as everything got clear. The fire on Infernape's head had grown; it had gotten much more intense and the look in Infernape's eyes had changed.

"So Infernape's ability – Blaze is what Ash was talking about." Flint pondered while still being absorbed in the events taking place on the field down below.

Eyes widened in shock, Paul couldn't utter a word for a few moments. "You mean…" he stuttered a little more. "You mean Infernape can control Blaze now?!" A grin from Ash was enough to confirm Paul's suspicions; something he dreaded.

"That's something you failed at." The raven-haired trainer spoke with a hint of disgust in his voice. "That's why…. You didn't deserve a Pokemon like Infernape." He respected Paul for his strength as a trainer but Ash absolutely hated the way Paul treated his Pokemon, especially Chimchar. "Alright Infernape, use Flamethrower!"

A jet of flames more intense than any Infernape spilled out before in the battle made its way towards Electivire. And before either Paul or Electivire could even react, the Electivire was struck by the Flamethrower. The Electric-Type Pokemon fell on his knees after taking the damage from that powerful move.

"It's time to end this." Ash declared viciously. "Flare Blitz!"

The voice of Ash calling his final move brought Paul to his senses. His eyes widened at Infernape charging at Electivire with his Flare Blitz. He had to do something, he realized. "Thunderpunch at ful power!"

However, like before, Electivire couldn't do anything against the speed and power that Infernape displayed. The flames ran through his veins, immensely damaging Electivire's body. As soon as Infernape was finished with the Thunderbolt Pokemon, Electivire had nothing left to spare. He had fallen on the ground and didn't move for the longest time.

"Electivire is unable to continue. The winner is Infernape!" The referee shouted as he lifted the red flag towards Ash for the final time. "Therefore, the winner of this Quarter Final match is Ash Ketchum."

The crowd went silent. For what seemed like minutes but only a couple of seconds had passed, none in the stadium spoke. But soon, the silence ended and they began to cheer on. They had been treated to an amazing battle; one which they could brag about watching live from the best place in the world.

Paul sighed. He'd lost; his journey in the Sinnoh League was over. In the end, he could not make it past the Quarter Finals. But that wasn't what disappointed him most. It was the fact that he lost to Ash; and this loss could very well be an annihilation. Ash still had two Pokemon aside from infernape, one of which he'd not even needed to use in the match.

The purple-haired teen recalled his fallen Electivire back to his Pokeball and in the tiniest of whispers that barely even he could hear left his lips. "You did well, Electivire."

On the other side of the field, there was only joy though. Infernape and Ash had finally put an end to it. Now, Infernape didn't have a care in the world; he'd shown not only Paul, but everyone of what he was capable of.

For Ash too, this win was one of the most satisfactory in his life. The trainer he'd not defeated all Sinnoh finally tasted loss at his hands. He too, could now move concentrate solely on winning the Sinnoh League. Even if he never spoke about it, in the back of his mind, the thought of winning against Paul always hovered in his mind. It was something he had to do; and now, that goal could be ticked off.

"That was amazing Infernape!" Ash complimented his Sinnoh ace – whose Blaze had finally calmed down – with a bright smile.

"Fer Fernape!" Infernape acknowledged the words of praise he received from his trainer. He smirked while taking a battle stance, showing his enthusiasm and intent on getting even stronger than his present self.

* * *

"That was simply awesome out there, Ash!" The blunette commended her friend on his victory in the Quarter Finals.

"Piii piplup!" The Penguin Pokemon in Dawn's arms too, said what he wanted.

Pikachu scurried off and jumped at Ash's shoulder, nuzzling his cheek against Ash's. "Pi Pikachuuu!"

After leaving the stadium and leaving his Pokemon in the Pokemon Center, Ash straightaway made his way to his hotel room. He'd planned to rest after his rival battle that'd taken a lot out of him. It was the first match of the Quarter Finals so it wasn't as if the match-ups would be announced so he didn't bother to wait around. And all his friends located him soon enough and destroyed any plans of rest he'd made.

"You've got to tell me how you train your Pokemon, Ash!" Barry exclaimed excitedly. He was almost at Ash, peeking his head forward at the trainer he considered his biggest rival.

Ash though, ignored Barry and replied to the others. "Thanks guys!"

"You were even better in this match than any of your previous matches in the Sinnoh League." Professor Oak showered Ash with praised this time, nodding his head repeatedly agreeing with what he thought. "I am quite looking forward to the next battle you face. I am sure it will be even better with _them_ fighting."

"Them?" Barry mused at Professor Oak's statement.

"It's nothing Barry." Ash bluntly denied anything of suspicion to Barry. He felt bad that he had to lie to some of his friends but he didn't want anyone finding out about _them_.

But, the questions didn't stop there. Ash was barged with more of them from Barry and surprisingly even Conway, who'd come to his room with the group. And he wasn't too comfortable with Dawn taking her chance and throwing herself at him either. It was a deadlock he couldn't get away from. Add to that, even his mother started to praise her son, in ways that Ash found embarrassing. He wouldn't be getting any rest anytime soon. He had made those friends, now he had to deal with them.

The only one who understood what Ash might be going through right then was Brock. He realized that it might be too much for Ash. He sighed. Although he did get Ash endured right now, he wasn't about to just get himself mixed in with that mess; it was Ash's to deal with and he won't be taking any of it from his friend.

* * *

**So, how was the chapter? How was the battle? Anything else you wanna say? Tell me in the reviews. I love reading them.**

**As I said, I will be back with another chapter of "A Legend Awakened" by either this weekend or the next. Thanks for reading!**


	10. The Legend Unleased

_**The Legend Unleashed**_

* * *

**Thanks for the wait guys! I was planning to update this around Christmas but I got my motivation back for this story so I wrote the chapter.**

**I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Ash leaned back on the bed after throwing the remote of the television away. The last of the quarter final battles of the Lily of the Valley Conference had just concluded. And the match-ups for the semi-finals had also been revealed.

Just like the rounds before, Tobias only needed his Darkrai; that Pokemon was so strong that it had defeated all of the six opponents without much difficulty. Ash had been looking forward to fighting against Tobias but it seemed like that wouldn't be possible until he won his semi-final match against a girl named Brittany. That wasn't so bad, he reflected. It just meant that he would get a shot at Tobias and his Darkrai in the finale.

Right then, he heard a knock on the door.

"Come in." he loudly said to whoever was at the door, too bored to even get up from his position on the bed. He simply waited for the one who'd knocked to come to him instead. And when that person did arrive, he was quite surprised; enough for him to get up instantly. "Lance!"

The taller man with red hair flashed a smile to the trainer. "So you remember me!"

Ash rose up from the bed and replied right away. "Of course, I do." His tone had evident shock in it. "I am surprised that you remember me."

"How can I forget you?" Lance, the champion of the regions of Kanto and Johto let a titter out. "You helped me catch my Gyarados so whenever I look at _him_, I am reminded of you." His cheerful expression now turned to one more earnest as he finished. "That's not the only reason, though. You were one for the future and I keep my eyes on rare talents like you. It's my job as Champion after all."

Sheepishly, Ash rubbed the back of his head at the praise. "So," he began. "What brings you here? I am sure you didn't come here just to tell me that, did you?" he sat himself back on the bed and gestured for the Champion Dragon Master to take a seat as well.

Lance took a seat beside Ash on the bed. "You're quite sharp." He remarked before grinning. "I am here to invite you to the party that's going to be held here."

The younger trainer frowned. "Party?"

Lance nodded. "Because of trainers like you lighting this Sinnoh League, the success of this tournament was boosted. The sheer amount of people who came to the stadiums as well the ratings on television, this has been by far the most successful regional Pokemon League in years." He explained to the trainer who keenly listened. "To celebrate that, our amazing President Mr. Charles Goodshow has decided to hold a gathering along with a banquet."

"I see." Ash said. "I didn't know this Sinnoh League was such a success." He recalled his experiences in the past Pokemon Leagues and of what he remembered, the stadiums were full every time. "But how's this year's Lily of the Valley Conference any different?" he raised the question towards the Champion. "I mean of what I have seen, I think that all the Pokemon leagues have a great number of spectators. The television ratings are a different matter but how could you tell that this one has been that much bigger a success than the others recently?" He didn't doubt what Lance had told him. He was simply curious to know what was different.

"Well, for one thing, the T.V. ratings have boosted." Lance pointed out and continued. "About the difference in the crowds coming to the stadium in this League has been that people have come to great numbers even in the less anticipated matches. Trainers like you have always attracted the spectators but because there has been so much talk about this Sinnoh League, people have swarmed here and watched most of the matches with interest."

Ash gave a nod in understanding. "The main attraction has been Tobias and his Darkrai, I guess." He observed sharply.

Lance shrugged. "Well, we are talking of a Legendary Pokemon here," Suddenly, he shifted his gaze to look Ash in the eyes and kept a hand on the boy's shoulder. "But I want you to beat Tobias." His words weren't meant to jest. The way he spoke only pointed to him speaking the truth.

The mentioned trainer was a bit taken aback by Lance's words. They held a lot of power. Ash now had the added responsibility of the Champion backing him to win. The belief Lance showed in him was something he could be happy about but it also meant that he couldn't even think of losing to Tobias now. If he ended up second best, he would disappoint a lot of people and this red-haired Champion was the latest addition to that list.

Lance sensed the tension that had built around by his statement. "Anyway," he smiled, eager to bring down the intensity in the room. "As I said, you are invited to the party which will be held the day after tomorrow. You can bring your friends along as well."

Ash took a deep breath and rolled his shoulders. "Are you the special guest?"

"That's not entirely true." The man said and continued when he saw Ash raise an eyebrow. "The Elite Four of different regions as well as several champions are all the special guests. And of course, all of the participants are also invited. But we can't invite friends of every participant so that's only for you."

Ash's eyes widened. "That's one hell of a gathering!" he exclaimed.

"That's true."

* * *

Ash eventually entered the hall where the atmosphere was over the roof. Several people appeared to be chatting with one another at every corner of the huge hall. The hall itself was something to be talked about, Ash noted soon enough. The decorations were marvelous and certainly the people that he saw everywhere were even more amazing. He could spot Elite Four members from Kanto, Hoenn, Sinnoh and Johto. He couldn't spot any of the Champions, though.

Ash was the last to arrive of the people that would be coming along with him. He was away training even today and by the time he'd returned, Professor Oak, his mother, Dawn and Brock were ready to leave. He didn't want to make them wait so he told them to leave without him, which of course they denied at first. But somehow, he managed to convince them and assured them that he would arrive on time and even told Pikachu to go along with them.

The teenager from Kanto wore a dark blue blazer with black collar over a white shirt and black pants. His head missed his trusty hat and his hair wasn't the mess it usually was. The only reason he managed to convince his mom and Dawn to leave without him was because he told them that he would do his hair as best as he could and would turn up at the event dressed like a gentleman. And he had definitely kept his promise. His hair were stretched back, not exactly slicked back but none except for one strand of his hair leaned on his forehead. And that one strand too was intentional.

Just then, he felt a strong tap on his shoulder. He looked back and saw the very man who'd invited him here. "Good evening, Lance."

"Good evening." He replied as he observed Ash with raised eyebrows.

Ash too couldn't help but keep gaze upon the red tuxedo the Champion wore. The black shirt and neck tie with the same colored pants suited him perfectly. This man looked truly amazing. "You're look dashing!" he commented.

"You stole the words out of my mouth." He shifted his gaze to the new hairstyle of Ash's which he'd seen for the first time. "That new look is amazing." He said and it wasn't a lie. This hairstyle would look good on anyone but it suited Ash simply too well. "Why don't you have your hair like this the whole time?"

"Like my hair would allow me to." He snorted. "I would be surprised if this hairstyle stayed for the night."

"Is that so?" Lance chuckled wholeheartedly. "Anyway, come with me."

Ash shrugged and didn't question the Champion. He followed Lance further into the large hall and he had to say, it took a long time. There were simply too many people who came to greet Lance on the way; some of them whom he recognized like Bertha. The old lady remembered Ash as well; it had hardly been a few months since they'd met.

But when Lance came to a stop, that was when Ash's heartbeat hastened. The two men that Lance stopped in front were both well known figures. In fact that would be an understatement.

"Ash, meet Wallace," Lance pointed his hand towards the tall and slick man with light blue eyes and teal blue hair that curled gracefully around his head. He wore a long, white cape over his suit. "and Alder." Lance this time pointed to the other man who was tall and powerfully-built with flaming red hair tied in a small ponytail.

"Guys, this is Ash Ketchum." Lance gestured towards Ash.

Ash's heart began pounding even harder than before and there was a significant reason for that. He recognized the first man as the Champion of Hoenn and the other one as the Champion of Unova, the region he'd set his sights to journey through soon. Being in the company of three Champions was new to Ash. He'd met Wallace once during the Wallace Cup but it was a brief meeting and he didn't expect the Hoenn region Champion to remember him. But even more threatening was the Unova Champion Alder, who wore a massive grin on his face but Ash could tell that behind that grin was a true Champion Class trainer.

Alder was the first to offer Ash a handshake. "I am Alder, the Champion of Unova. It's nice to meet you, Ash Ketchum." He greeted, retaining the same grin as before.

Ash shifted his body uncomfortably for a moment but responded to Alder's handshake immediately after. "I am Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town. It's an honor to meet you, Alder."

"The pleasure's all mine kid." As soon as his hand was free from the handshake, the Unova Champion ruffled Ash's head cheerfully, destroying the work Ash had put into his hair in the process. "I have been meaning to see you after how Lance and even that Sinnoh Champion have been going on and on about ever since I arrived in Sinnoh."

"They have, huh?" Ash raised an eyebrow in interest. He then shook Wallace's hand.

"Have we met before, Ash?" Wallace questioned.

Ash answered immediately. "I didn't think you would remember me. We did meet once during the Wallace Cup."

Wallace's eyes widened in realization. "Ahha!" he snapped his fingers and laughed. "I was sure I had seen you before."

Right then, Lance looked past the two Champions standing and smirked. "It sure did take you a while."

Lance's statement made the three others standing around him follow his gaze and what they saw could only be called be described by one words – gorgeous. The Champion of Sinnoh, Cynthia walked towards them gracefully wearing a simple yet charming sleeveless dress which was v-chest and black in color. The slim dress ended right above her feet. However, it was the beauty of the blonde that made the dress appear so amazingly pretty.

The men who awaited her could only awe. It wasn't the first time that the Champions had seen Cynthia wearing something marvelous like this but every time she amazed them with her beauty. Her mascara, her lipstick; everything was in low proportion but she hardly needed makeup to define her presence.

Although, Ash who saw Cynthia like this for the first time, was at a loss for words. He was speechless. Her white skin that remained uncovered made the perfect match for the black dress that had the luck of being worn by her.

"You look stunning!" Alder patted Cynthia's shoulder as soon as she arrived. "I had been waiting for you for so long."

This act from Alder didn't impress Cynthia, however. She simply rolled her eyes and shoved Alder's hand aside. "Thank you, Alder!" she thanked hysterically.

"At least what he said held some truth. You're looking pretty as always." Wallace commented. There was a mysterious finesse to his words that seemed unique to him.

"Why thank you!" Cynthia said before she turned towards Ash and Lance. "Look who joined us!" she exclaimed as she glanced at Ash, her eyebrows furrowed.

"You'd rather that I stay away?" Ash gestured to the empty space on his right. He had an easier time talking to Cynthia than any of the Champions. Well, he had spent some time with her after all, which he didn't get the chance to with the other. Except maybe Lance.

"Well," Cynthia began, looking away. "You've been avoiding me anyway."

Ash raised an eyebrow curiously. "Avoiding you? I have no reason to do that. Not to a Champion anyway." Wallace and Lance both sniggered at the bickering of Ash and Cynthia while Alder appeared to be watching with interest as well. They didn't get a chance to see Cynthia quarrel like this everyday. They wouldn't dare interrupt.

"Is that so?" Cynthia retorted. However, just as she was about to mouth a few more words, Goodshow had begun his speech on the stage.

"Hello and welcome!" Goodshow began in the microphone, getting everyone's attention to himself. "Thank you for coming to this party, which is held for a very special reason as you would know. This year's Sinnoh League Conference has turned out to be a huge success and its been thanks to the amazing competition that the participants have put up. On behalf of the entire Pokemon League, I would like to thank everyone who battled from the preliminary rounds till the quarter finals."

Goodshow paused, waiting for the applause of the people present in the entire hall to come to a halt. That little speech so far of the President's had reminded Ash of something. Or rather someone. Since all the Pokemon trainers who participated in the League were invited, it meant that even Paul would be. Although Ash wasn't sure if Paul had already left the Lily of the Valley island. Even if he didn't, considering his personality, it wouldn't be a surprise if Paul simply didn't attend.

"The chief guests for this party as some of you might know are the Elite Fours and the Champions of Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh and even Unova." As soon as he finished that, another loud roar and applause began. This time, it was mostly the participants who were excited to get to meet these figures who stoop at the top of the Pokemon League up close. As they cheers died down, Goodshow continued. "This Sinnoh League has been more successful than any other regional Pokemon League in the last 9 years. The amount of people who have gathered on this island to watch the tournament live as well as the people watching the matches all around the world have been far greater than anything the League has achieved in the last 9 years. So, for making this such a special competition, I would again like to thank all the participants of the Sinnoh League." The short President of the Pokemon League adjusted the tie of his black suit and stroked his white beard. "That will be all from this old man. Enjoy your time here and all the best to our four semi-finalists – Ash, Brittany, Tobias and Ross!"

Mr. Charles Goodshow earned himself another huge applause at the conclusion of his speech. Indeed, this had been an amazing tournament. The battles all around had been exciting and the trainer's had given them their all. Although everyone knew that the main attraction was Darkrai. People had flown from all direction just to see the Nightmare Pokemon in action and in doing so, had also watched some of the other battles. Not to say they were disappointed in the lesser matches. They had all been exceptional fun.

With Goodshow exiting the stage, some beautiful classical music began playing by the musicians that sat behind. Soon, the guests took their seats and the banquet started. There were enough tables for everyone to sit and have dinner at once.

* * *

As people finished their meal, the dancing also began. Even some of the Elite Four had taken to the dance stage and began to show how elegant they were. Agatha, the Ghost specialist Elite Four had forced Charles Goodshow to dance with her while Aaron, Flint and Volkner – The Gym Leader who'd been invited – also took the stage.

Ash watched the dance all the while being immersed in the beautiful melody that was being played. He'd already reunited with his Mom and friends with whom he ate his dinner. Now, he stood besides Dawn, who wore a beautiful white gown. Pikachu and Piplup seemed to be talking about something while standing on the floor.

"Let's go dance, Ash." Dawn caught Ash's hand and took a step forward, tugging on to Ash.

Ash was surprised when his friend pulled him ahead, while he was dazed in the music. "Come on, Dawn," Ash chuckled and scratched his head. "You know I am not good at dancing."

The girl walked forward and dragged Ash along with her. "No need to worry Ash. I am really good at dancing. Just follow my lead!" Her tone sounded confident.

He wouldn't escape this. "All right." The black-haired boy groaned.

As the couple entered the dance stage, Ash noticed a few eyes on him, particularly a few interested looks from some people he knew. The duo soon got into position; Ash's left hand intertwined with Dawn's right. Dawn placed her left arm around Ash's right shoulder while he slid his right arm across her waist. Their bodies remained in contact as Dawn lead the way, while Ash dubiously followed her steps.

The people watching were quite surprised; it would generally be the male leading the female but this was the other way around. However, Ash and Dawn's dance remained quite unique and actually suited the music. Dawn, of course was enjoying herself while Ash warmed up steadily getting in the groove. He still felt somewhat uncomfortable as he wasn't the best dancer around but as the dance began to flow, he realized that this might not be too bad.

They continued for several minutes and their steady speed picked up a little. Ash appeared to be a quick learner. He now managed to pull a few steps that he couldn't earlier. As Dawn slid her body weight onto Ash's arms, he bent towards the girl and their chest pressed together.

Ash blushed when he realized how close he was to Dawn at that moment. Their faces almost touched the each others; their warm breaths brought heat to the other's cheek, which reddened at the realization. Ash could smell her from the proximity. She smelled good, amazing even. Her perfume smelt like a bouquet but what he was dazed by was her scent. It was wonderful.

The girl blushed and lost control of her body. She felt it impossible to move her limbs as she stared into Ash's amber eyes. She couldn't blink even when his hair grazed her forehead. All she could do was let out a gasp of cool air right into his face.

A lot of applause could be heard acknowledging the show these two had put on for the last few minutes. It wasn't perfect. Faults could be pointed right throughout their dance. But that wasn't what had impressed these people. It was the sync and understanding the two showed while dancing that had earned them those claps.

The applause brought Ash and Dawn back to reality. Ash straightened up and so did Dawn, however they couldn't look away. Ash was the first to break eye contact and soon, Dawn followed suit. They didn't speak a word as they both walked to join Brock and Delia, who could be seen waving at the two.

A slight wince appeared on Cynthia's face as she watched the dance end. She clutched onto her left folded arm but a sigh calmed her down once again. She'd wanted to ask Ash for a dance but Dawn had already beaten her to it. After watching them on the stage, she questioned herself just how far she was to Ash.

Her peculiar behavior didn't go unnoticed by another blonde woman standing beside her. "Jealous?" Caitlin mumbled into Cynthia's ear. When she saw the Champion startled, she smirked. "That's something new for you."

Cynthia looked away in order to avoid eye contact with her friend. "Maybe."

Caitlin let out an amused giggle. "So you won't deny it?" She was quite surprised that Cynthia didn't tell her otherwise. She'd never caught Cynthia in a situation like this so she didn't know how she would react but she figured she would be more sensitive to the matter.

Cynthia didn't bother to answer.

"Greetings, Cynthia."

Wearing a blue cape, similar to the one he normally wore, Tobias walked towards Cynthia with a hint of a grin on his face. He came to a stop right in front of Cynthia and offered his hand to her. "Care for a dance?" he requested with a slight bow.

"Hello, Tobias!" The Champion greeted back. "I am sorry but I don't really feel like dancing." She tried to hide her aggravation about the events that just took place but her tone didn't sound exactly like usual.

Tobias's face held quite shock as displayed by the wrinkles on his forehead. He closed his wide open mouth within a second and straightened up before flashing a smile. "That's quite alright."

Although, Caitlin had other plans. "Just go," she patted her friend on the back and pushed her slightly forward. "It'll freshen you up."

Cynthia rolled her eyes. "I really don't want to." She glared for a moment.

"I'll spill your beans!" The Elite Four stared back at Cynthia with her hands on her hips. She tried her best to act as natural as possible but couldn't hold back a laugh. Getting no response from Cynthia again, Caitlin pushed her forward once again. "I wanna see you dance."

"Alright," Cynthia sighed in defeat. She knew that Caitlin wouldn't breathe easy until she really made her dance. "Stop pushing me already!"

The Champion walked with Tobias onto the dance stage and soon, they began. Cynthia was a good dancer which became evident by her elegant movements. Tobias was no mug either as he gracefully moved his body with his left arm resting behind Cynthia's waist.

She hadn't been dancing for even a minute when her eyes noticed Ash. She eyed the black-haired trainer as he just stood there watching her dance with his hands in his pockets. She ignored how good Ash looked earlier tonight because of her pent up exasperation due to the fact that he hadn't met her in a few days. But his smiling face right now made her enter a daze, even while she danced.

A sudden shriek left her lips. The dance stopped as Cynthia knelt down on her knee. She let out a curse when she realized that she'd sprained her ankle.

"Are you alright, Cynthia?" Tobias asked in concern as he bent down.

She fought a grimace. "Yeah. I think I've sprained my ankle though."

"Cynthia," Caitlin called as she stepped forward and offered her a hand. "I am sorry."

Cynthia grasped the hand offered and stood up shakily. "You don't need to be." She appeared in pain.

Caitlin let a ghost of a smile cover her lips as she helped the Champion up and walked her towards a chair nearby. She could tell that Cynthia's heart wasn't in to it. Well, anybody could but she now realized that she shouldn't have forced her.

As she sat on the chair – which brought her a lot of relief and comfort, Cynthia saw the younger boy because of whom she'd ended up spraining her ankle approach her. Not that she blamed him for that. It was her who'd lost her concentration and begun dreaming.

"Is your ankle alright?" Ash asked as he seated himself on the empty chair next to Cynthia.

Cynthia couldn't help but smile. "Well, it'll be better soon." She answered.

Ash was about to open his mouth but Caitlin beat him to it. "Hey Ash, could you escort Cynthia to her hotel? She'll be better off getting some rest." Her face which peeked from beside Cynthia had the slightest of grins hiding beneath.

"No, I am fine." Cynthia retorted, cursing herself a moment later.

"You're not!" Caitlin argued, her true motives hidden behind her stern glare.

Ash shrugged. "Yea sure." He didn't have anything better to do anyways and he even he realized that Cynthia would be better off in her hotel room after he saw her wince. He stood up and took Cynthia's hand in his own, surprising the blonde. "You need to rest."

Caitlin was careful enough to make sure that Cynthia would be in the best position to walk and would be supported amply by Ash. She made Cynthia glide her arm around Ash's neck and also made sure that Ash's hand was around her waist. As they began walking off, hey eyes followed the two as she now freely grinned at the success. She could take relief that at least something good had come out of that sprain of Cynthia's.

* * *

A five minutes walk from the hall and the two had reached Cynthia's hotel. As they both eyed the building, their cheeks flushed pink. In these past five minutes, they had gotten into an even more awkward position than what Caitlin sent them off with. The sides of their bodies were in contact while Cynthia had wrapped her arm even closer and tighter to Ash's neck.

"Thanks Ash," Cynthia smiled warmly as she leaned her hand onto the lift. "I'll manage from here. You should go back."

Lies. Those last few words were all lies. But she didn't want to burden Ash if he was enjoying himself in the party.

Ash shook his head. "Getting to your room won't take long."

Cynthia nodded without another word. She wouldn't even think about refusing him now. She would never get a better chance than this to spend some time. He'd already been ignoring her as it was. So she deserved some attention. And if doing that meant that he would miss the rest of the party, then he deserved it for not meeting her often enough.

In another minute, they now faced the door to Cynthia's room. Ash took the keys from Cynthia and unlocked the door before he led Cynthia inside. He switched on the lights before he let Cynthia rest on the sofa. He smiled at the sighing figure of Cynthia. A night's rest would do Cynthia a world of good. Being a Pokemon Champion wasn't easy, he realized.

He was about to leave when he felt his palm being tugged on to. When he turned around, he saw Cynthia looking at him in a way that made his heart stop. The position she sat in didn't make it any easier for Ash. Her arms hanging low in exhaustion, her slender legs sliding against the sofa and her beautiful face tilted towards him.

Cynthia's lips parted themselves as she breathed heavier, pulling Ash towards her.

The boy wore a perplexed look on his face. "Umm… Cynthia?"

She couldn't take this now. Ash wasn't reacting to her at all.

She slowly rose up from the sofa and got closer to his face. Their foreheads touched as she brought her face ever so closer to his. She could feel him breathing. She didn't get too many opportunities to get a look at his burning amber eyes too often. Her soft, blonde hair grazed his hair as he stayed unmoved.

Ash couldn't do anything right now. His blood got hotter every passing second. Cynthia's soft, warm hands touched his own as he gazed into Cynthia's grey eyes, which had been staring at him all this time. Their noses brushed together as Cynthia caressed Ash's cheeks with the palm of her hands. She tilted her head ever so slightly and got closer and closer to his red, juicy lips.

Finally they touched. Neither of them moved, nor did their lips. They stayed put, plastered to one another. Moments passed and eventually, Cynthia advanced. She moved her arm around his neck and onto his hair and prodded deeper.

He didn't resist. He hardly could. No thought played inside his mind. Even as Cynthia progressed a little deeper into his mouth, he didn't mind. This was pleasure. The feeling was heavenly. And then they took over. His manly instincts called for him to take charge. He did.

He pushed Cynthia onto the sofa but their kiss didn't break. He didn't want it to. He wanted this feeling to last forever. Hands around Cynthia, he deepened their kiss as he leaned above Cynthia. His arms were placed on either side of Cynthia's head now as he moved his bent knee between her legs.

However, as he moved his knee further and further and moved his hands closer and closer towards her face, the realization came. His eyes that had been closed opened up instantly. He pulled out from the kiss the very next moment. What was he doing?

He frantically jumped out of the sofa, his breath hastening. He looked over at Cynthia and his eyes were blank. If anything they held sadness; disappointment. They were almost pleading to Cynthia.

"I ….I am sorry." He whispered, his hands reaching for his hair. He moved a hand through his head as he contemplated what had just happened.

Cynthia's eyes held almost the same emotions as Ash did. But she knew it was her fault. She felt the guilt build up inside her. And that guilt became too much for her to handle. It let itself out in the form of tears. She wanted to hug him right then but she knew that would be taking advantage of his kindness.

"What are _you_ apologizing for?" A few tears ran down her cheeks as she cried that out.

Ash watched Cynthia tear down in front of his eyes. And he realized that he simply couldn't take it. He couldn't fit that image of her inside his mind. He walked forward and steadily seated himself on the sofa. As Cynthia's tears stopped, she gazed at him while he hesitantly moved his arm around her.

"Don't cry." He muttered softly as he gently ran his hands down Cynthia's back. "I don't like seeing you that way."

Their gazes met again. Cynthia nodded and rested her head on his chest. And Ash didn't mind it right now.

* * *

Ash stared right forward. In his view was a petite girl around his age, wearing a pink shirt and blue shorts. Her light brown hair highlighted her fair skin as she smirked at him. Ash smirked right back, though his expression held a vicious intensity that she lacked. She was the only boulder left on his way to fight Tobias and win the Sinnoh League and today, he would make certain that he got to the stage of a Pokemon League he'd never reached before: The Finals.

If he could clear this hurdle, he would be facing Tobias in the finals. Ross had met the same fate as everyone else facing Tobias before him did. All his Pokemon were knocked out by only Darkrai. Ash had closely watched that match and discerned that Ross was a pretty good trainer but he stood no chance against the power of Tobias' Darkrai.

"Welcome one and all to the second semi-final of this year's Sinnoh League!" The commentator screamed to the microphone. "Tobias has already won the first semi-final match and whoever wins this match will be battle him in the finals of the Lily of the Valley Conference. Fasten your seatbelts folks, because this promises to be an amazing battle!" his tone calmed down as he continued. "Our special guests for today's match are Agatha from the Kanto," Huge cheers went around the packed-capacity stadium as the Ghost-type Elite Four Member from Kanto was introduced and they became even louder when the commentator mentioned the others. "The Dragon Master Drake from Hoenn, and our very own Aaron!"

In the middle of the grassy battlefield that had been chosen for the second semi-final of the Lily of the Valley Conference, the referee began loudly. "This semi-final match between Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town and Brittany from Lilycove City will be a full battle with six Pokemon each. Each trainer will be allowed to substitute Pokemon whenever they wish. The match will be over when all six Pokemon of either trainer is unable to continue battling." He explained through the microphone he wore and raised both the red and the green flags. "The first move goes to Brittany. Begin!"

Brittany raised her Pokeball and out came a large blue Pokemon with a wide open mouth. The Pokemon had two peg-like teeth on each jaw and protruding tubes with holes all around its body.

However, Ash didn't even care to have a look at the first Pokemon his opponent would be using. He simply gazed into his own Pokeball with narrowed eyes. Eventually, he raised his own Pokeball and as the red beam of energy from the ball took the shape of his Pokemon, he smirked. "The stage's all yours!"

The roaring spectators had been stunned silent. Brittany's expression changed to one of horror as well as astonishment; her jaw dropped and her eyebrows curved up in pure shock. Even the Elite Four members in the commentary box couldn't utter a word at the sight. Only a moment had passed but it seemed as if time had stopped for hours.

The Pokemon with the ferocious aura which caused it, opened its eyes in an instant. And that one moment became so dreadful that fear spread through the stadium. Everyone watching had their breaths ceased by this amazing display.

Darkrai let out a loud, emanating roar that announced his arrival. He hovered a feet above the ground in front of Ash and eyed his opponent; an Exploud who too could feel the horrifying power that its foe exhibited just by being simply being there. The Normal-type trembled at the fearsome glare of the Nightmare Pokemon.

"A Darkrai?!" It was Agatha, the white-haired old lady from the Kanto Elite Four who found her voice before anyone else could. But her breath was still heavy due to the shock.

"A second Darkrai at the Sinnoh League!" Aaron in the commentary box gasped. "Impossible!"

Between the two, Drake calmed himself and got back to his senses. He gazed at the Darkrai that had just stunned everyone. Just by looking at the Pokemon, he could tell how terrifying that Legendary creature was. Darkrai's aura reached even up there where he sat and made his hair stand on end.

"Why… Why do you have a Darkrai?!" was all Brittany could shout out to her opponent before gulping at the eyes of Darkrai turning to her.

Ash's expression didn't change. "I am not sure I can answer that. But I suggest that you concentrate on the battle. I'll still wait for you to have the first move."

The spectators had just begun to realize that this was not a dream. That, there was a second Darkrai who would be fighting in the Sinnoh League. Their silence first turned into fear of the darkness that Darkrai emanated. However, that fear turned into excitement once Darkrai controlled itself. A massive roar went around the stadium; the loudest even the Sinnoh League had witnessed.

And people watching on television were not any less surprised. Reggie had been shook in Veilstone City while Paul still on the Lily of the Valley Conference couldn't believe that his rival owned such a Pokemon. Gary from Oak's lab in Pallet Town finally realized why his grandfather was so excited to watch Ash in the Sinnoh League. None could have expected this.

Cynthia coughed out her juice at the bombshell. Lance could only gaze at the Pokemon that had caused him to feel an emotion that he so seldom did: fear. Wallace and Alder just watched in utter disbelief as Darkrai hovered in front of his trainer.

Brittany somehow built up the courage to call out a move. "Ha-Hammer Arm!" Her senses still worked and they told her to make use of Exploud's Fighting-type move.

Exploud got itself together and charged forward. Its right forearm charged up power as it glowed silver with Fighting-type energy. Darkrai watched his opponent all the while it approached him. At the last moment, he displayed his speed as he simply shifted his position a feet to his left to easily evade the attack.

"Dark Pulse." Ash calmly ordered.

With a hollow howl, Darkrai brought his black hands together and formed a chain of purplish-black energy in between them. In no time at all, he fired the Dark Pulse and the chains of darkness headed towards Exploud. The Loud Noise Pokemon could only let out a cry as the attack stung his entire body with wounds.

"That Dark Pulse," Drake mumbled in the microphone. "Its power is astonishing!"

Brittany was amazed as well as dreaded. "Exploud…" she muttered as her Pokemon failed to stand up.

Ash didn't want to waste any time though. "Now Focus Blast!"

Once again, Darkrai brought his hands together and this time, he formed a light blue orb of energy with a nucleus as bright as the sun. He launched the Focus Blast into Exploud and it sent it crashing through the ground. It only stopped when it crashed into the cemented boundary of the battlefield, unmoving and unconscious.

The referee who'd taken a few steps back - even though he was a good distance away from the field – declared with the red flag raised towards Ash. "Exploud is unable to battle. Darkrai wins!"

* * *

**Guess who made his debut? Well, we're nearing the end of the Sinnoh League so the star had to make his appearance.**

**How was the chapter? Tell me what you thought in the reviews.**


	11. Battling for Pride

_**Battling for Pride**_

* * *

**This chapter is slightly on the shorter side(just over 6k words) but I hope I don't disappoint you too much. **

**I won't keep you here with this note too long so enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

The entire stadium burst into deafening roars and cheers at the amazing show that Darkrai displayed. They were expecting an amazing battle to take place between Ash and Brittany though none could have seen this coming. Getting to see another Legendary Pokemon in the Sinnoh League, a Darkrai no less was nothing short of astonishing.

He gripped the railing firmly in exasperation. He was shocked to say the least; but the feeling of annoyance ran much deeper. Tobias couldn't come to terms with the fact that Ash owned a Darkrai and one which could compare to his in terms of power. Although Ash's Darkrai's gave off a somber aura of wickedness that even his couldn't.

Before the champions seated inside the air-conditioned sector ever got a chance to take in Ash owning a Darkrai, the Pitch Black Pokemon had already put on a show.

"Was that the Pokemon he wouldn't tell me about?" Cynthia wondered, remaining still in her seat. She'd been taken aback. What were the chances of Ash owning a Darkrai? She couldn't believe he even managed to hide it from her.

Lance shook his head and relaxed his tensed muscles as the first battle ended. "That was amazing!" he gasped out. He couldn't take his eyes off from the magnificent Darkrai that Ash owned, even for a moment. He recognized a strong Pokemon when he saw one.

"You guys weren't joking when you told me that this kid was one to keep an eye on." Alder said, equally astonished as the rest of his peers.

Wallace just tightly grasped the sides of his cozy seat while taking steady breaths. He didn't make a comment. He wouldn't until he saw the full extent of this Darkrai's power. Something told him that there was more to this Legendary Dark Pokemon than met the eye.

* * *

The cheers never died even as a shaken Brittany raised her Pokeball and her first Pokemon got sucked inside in a flash of red light. She inhaled deeply in an attempt to calm herself down. However, her trembling didn't stop. Her Exploud had just been taken down without it having a chance to land a single blow; his Normal-type wasn't weak. Eventually, she bit her lips and got herself back together and concentrated on the next battle instead of thinking about what had just happened or what might happen next. If she could beat Ash's Darkrai, it wouldn't be in the state that she was in now.

Ash waited patiently while his opponent decided the Pokemon she would use in the second bout. Whatever she threw at him, he had full faith that his Darkrai could take it. He wasn't overconfident; he just believed in his Pokemon. He closed his eyes and listened to the exhilarated crowd roar. Yes, that was what his Darkrai deserved and not the way he was seen in Alamos Town, where most people despised him for what his nature was.

His eyes burst open when he realized that Britanny had chosen her second Pokemon which sharply buzzed through its wings. He recognized the light green insectoid, bipedal dragon as a Flygon, one which he'd come across a few times when he traveled through the Hoenn region. They were supposed to be quite strong and ferocious, like all Dragon-types were. But that hardly worried Ash at this point.

"Flygon, let's use Aerial Ace!" Brittany yelled from her trainer box. From the look on her face as well as her tone, it appeared as if she'd got back her composure.

This was a move which was very difficult to dodge, Ash realized that. "Darkrai, Ice Beam." he commanded.

Flygon gave a cry and took flight and soon its entire body became surrounded in silver strands of energy. Darkrai formed a white sphere of ice in his hands and waited for his foe to come in his sight before he unleashed his attack. As the dragon neared him with its Aerial Ace, Darkrai locked onto it and launched a beam of white fizzling beam of pure ice at it. However, to his surprise, Flygon disappeared in front of it and the Ice Beam simply went past. Darkrai grunted when Flygon's Aerial Ace struck him in the gut.

The entire stadium erupted at the first damage that Ash's Darkrai took.

"Bug Bite, quick!" Brittany called out to her Pokemon urgently. She knew this was her best chance to cause some damage and she wouldn't get another one like this. Not against a Pokemon like this Darkrai.

As Flygon bared its fangs which shone white and enlarged, Ash shouted. "Don't let it even get close. Dark Void!"

The black ball that formed in Darkrai's hands was hurled at the incoming Flygon. And the Dragon and Ground-type couldn't do anything but collapse on the ground as soon as the ball of absolute darkness enlarged and engulfed it inside a deep sleep. It cried out as if it was being severely hit without Darkrai even moving an inch.

Britanny's eyes widened in terror as her worst fears came true. Even though she knew what was coming at her, she couldn't do a thing. Tobias' Darkrai used this move over and over again and she'd prepared her Pokemon for that but it meant nothing in the end. She was brought out of her daze when Ash gave an order. That was Darkrai's ability.

"Get up, Flygon!" She pleaded, concern about her Pokemon quite clear in her voice. But her Pokemon couldn't even hear its trainer; it was now in Darkrai's world.

"Ice Beam."

Darkrai charged his Ice Beam again and fired it right at Flygon, who offered no resistance to the super-effective move in its sleep. It could only lie on the ground with no movement, signifying that it could no longer battle.

"Flygon is unable to battle!" The referee declared with the green flag raised towards Ash. "The winner is Darkrai!"

* * *

Everyone in the stadium went berserk again. As much as they would like for someone to defeat a Legendary Pokemon at the Sinnoh League, they loved watching Darkrai battle and display the sort of power only Legendary Pokemon were capable of. First Tobias' and now Ash's; they all began to wonder if this Lily of the Valley Conference belonged to Darkrai.

"Now, that was fast," Agatha commented over the microphone. "At least Flygon managed to land an attack on Darkrai, though."

"True," Drake agreed. "It showed just how strong Brittany's Flygon is under normal circumstances."

Aaron let out a titter. The tension and fear that Darkrai brought had finally disappeared. "This is anything but normal."

In the stands, Barry had gone crazy about Ash having a Darkrai.

"We just find out that Ash has a Darkrai and," Barry sat with folded arms, a pout on his face. "And he waits till the semi-finals to use it!" he screamed. "If I had a Pokemon as awesome as Darkrai, I would be destroying everyone like Tobias is!" The blonde-haired trainer was truly stupefied to know that Ash had a Legendary Pokemon. When he came to terms with that fact, he simply couldn't understand why Ash wouldn't use such a Pokemon and win his battles with ease instead of giving his opponents unnecessary hope that they could beat him.

"Pipe down already," Dawn groaned from the seat next to Barry's. He'd been going on about this from the moment Ash chose Darkrai to battle and she was starting to get annoyed. "It's not like he lost without Darkrai."

"That's not the kind of trainer Ash is," Brock turned to face Barry and explained in his composed tone. "If he used Darkrai every battle, he would be indirectly ignoring the hard work his other Pokemon had put to prepare to fight here in the Sinnoh League."

Dawn nodded in agreement to the older, tanned boy. "You saying things like that just shows how inferior your thinking is to him."

"Look, they're about to begin." Barry totally ignored Dawn's remark and instead, just concentrated on the battlefield.

* * *

"Good job, Flygon," The brown-haired semi-finalist sighed but a smile covered her face. Her Flygon had did her proud by even managing to land a blow at a Pokemon like that Darkrai. She replaced Pokballs and raised the new ball toward the battlefield. "It's up to you now, go!"

The third Pokemon of Britanny's in this semi-final was a quadruped creature with pure white fur that covered its body. It had a black scythe-like tail and a sickle-shaped horn on the side of its head. The Pokemon dug its fangs into the ground and roared before it looked at its opponent.

"Absol, huh? This'll be interesting," Ash smirked at the sight of Brittany's Pokemon. "Focus Blast!"

Brittany grinned for the first time. "Sucker Punch!" she commanded sharply.

As Darkrai formed a blue orb of Fighting-energy between the palms of his hands, Absol simply howled with its black horn getting covered with a purple, dark aura and closed its eyes. Just as Darkrai was about to hurl the Focus Blast, Absol disappeared from its position and a moment later, appeared right underneath its opponent. It almost felt as if it had appeared out of thin air. Ash cursed himself as Absol slashed his Pokemon with its horn, causing Darkrai to lose concentration and throw the Focus Blast towards one of the boundaries of the field.

Ash had to remind himself that even with Darkrai's amazing speed, there were still some attacks that could be executed at an even faster rate and Sucker Punch was one of them. Since it was a Dark-type move though, it didn't do much damage but he needed to be careful of that. If Darkrai's attack power was staggeringly high, his defenses were comparatively low even amongst the Legendary Pokemon.

"Night Slash!" Brittany ordered again. She seemed pretty keen to attack Darkrai head on. Ash could understand that tactic thought considering Absol's superior physical attacking power as compared to its special attacks.

"Dark Pulse!"

Absol barked again while its horn turned dark purple, sparks flying out of the sickle as it ran at Darkrai on all fours. It couldn't succeed though, once again showing how superior Darkrai's speed was compared to it. Soon, Darkrai formed purple chains between the palm of his hands and sent the Dark Pulse at the Absol. The Disaster Pokemon was too close to dodge the attack and cried in agony when struck by it.

Ash's eyes widened when Absol's horn and tail were covered with darkish energy. "Damn, its ability is Justified?!"

"That's right!" Brittany triumphantly roared from across the field. "Mega Horn!"

"Finish this with Focus Blast!" Ash yelled, aware that a strong Bug-type move like Mega Horn only meant trouble for his Darkrai. Add to that that Absol'd attack power had risen due to Justified – an ability which raises the attack power if its struck by Dark-type moves.

When it heard the command, Absol recovered from the minor damage it took as its horn enlarged and glowed golden. As it dashed towards Darkrai with a little more speed than before, Darkrai formed his Focus Blast and waited for the best moment to launch it. He narrowly evaded Absol's horn and right at that moment, launched the Focus Blast. Absol cried in pain as the attack struck it and it fell on the ground.

"Absol is unable to continue. Darkrai wins!" The referee announced. "Since the green trainer Brittany has lost three of her Pokemon, there will a five minute break."

Brittany scowled and recalled her fallen Pokemon. She mumbled a few words to the Pokeball before staring at Ash. A few seconds later, she sighed and walked towards the seat on her side in order to get a much needed breather.

"You were amazing, Darkrai." Ash raised his Pokeball and recalled Darkrai inside. He now truly believed that he could beat Tobias. He wanted to test out Darkrai's true power in a battle and with how things went so far, he could say that he could go into the finals with an even chance of victory.

* * *

"I don't know what to say!" Agatha breathed from the commentary box. "I still can't believe that Ash has a Darkrai."

Drake nodded. "I can't either. And even more surprising is how efficiently Ash used it. How can a kid like that have such control over a Legendary?!" he roared into the microphone. "It's astounding!"

"It was hard enough to believe that there was one Darkrai in the Sinnoh League," Aaron joined in the conversation that could be heard by everyone, even during the interval. "But another one! If anyone told me there would be one Darkrai here before the Sinnoh League began, I would've bet everything that it wasn't possible."

Ash and Brittany stood in their trainer's box again as the allotted five minutes break ended. Ash looked as calm as he'd looked throughout this match while Brittany appeared to be faring better than what she'd done when Ash's Darkrai had surprised her. As the referee called for the match to resume, the participants raised their Pokeballs to release their Pokemon.

"This kid," Lance chuckled in absolute amazement as he saw the choice that Ash had made. "He is simply outrageous!"

The Champion of Hoenn couldn't hold a laugh either. "He definitely is!"

"First he scares the shit out of all of us with that Darkrai of his and now he chooses this Pokemon?!" Alder all but shouted.

"He'll at least keep Tobias guessing which Pokemon he's going to use in the finals." Cynthia rolled her eyes. "As far as I know him, he probably used Darkrai just to warn Tobias to not underestimate him."

Lance nodded as he laced his finger and rested his chin on them. "That's what I think as well. Using Darkrai in the semi-final when he could've used his other Pokemon and taken Tobias by surprise in the final wasn't the best move on his side. I could be wrong though. The reason might be completely different."

"Let's assume he did it because of what the two of you think," Wallace curiously said and glanced at Lance and Cynthia. "Then, are we in for a battle between Ash's Darkrai and Tobias'?"

"God knows." Lance mouthed. "I wouldn't count out the possibility of Ash not using Darkrai in the final at all. This might just be a bluff from him to create a doubt in Tobias' mind. He might use his other Pokemon while Tobias just comes prepared to face his Darkrai."

The Sinnoh Champion disagreed. "Come on Lance," she glanced at him once before gluing her eyes on the field again. "Even Ash wouldn't do that. This is the Sinnoh League. Even he wouldn't leave out his Darkrai from the team he decides to use in the finals. It probably is one of the strongest Pokemon he has, if not the strongest."

"I guess so."

* * *

"Why aren't you using Darkrai?!" Brittany bellowed, staggered by Ash opting for a different Pokemon even though his Darkrai had just made a mockery of her in this match.

"I want my other Pokemon to fight as well." He replied plainly as he eyed the insectoid Pokemon with red exoskeleton and pincers in place of its hands. "Staraptor, Quick Attack!"

"Bullet Punch!" she shouted, letting thoughts of Darkrai hide into a corner in her mind.

Staraptor dashed at high speeds at Scizor, almost vanishing from sight and only leaving white trails behind him. Scizor too sped up and flew with its pincers glowing silver. Both the Pokemon took to the air and clashed with their speedy moves, not giving an inch to the opponent. After the first round, the two flung around and clashed once again but the result was the same. They returned back to their trainer's side and cried in acknowledgement of the other's strength.

"Now use X-Scissor!" Brittany cried. She wouldn't let anyone who underestimated her win.

"Aerial Ace!" Ash commanded with his hands resting in his pockets.

With pincers crossed and glowing yellow, Scizor flew across but the difference in speed from its Bullet Punch was quite evident. Staraptor's body got engulfed by silver shreds throughout as he soared into the sky and then descended. Scizor was blinded by the speed that Staraptor showed but it prepared to attack with X-Scissor when it saw its foe come at it. However, Staraptor just disappeared momentarily before it struck the dumbfounded Scizor, who shrieked in agony.

"Damn!" Brittany cursed under her breath. "Bullet Punch now!" she saw an opening when her Scizor recovered.

"Dodge with Quick Attack!" Ash countered just as quick.

Scizor rushed with the speed of bullet at Staraptor but his Quick Attack proved fast enough for him to dodge the Bullet Punch. They glared at each other and let out a few cries. They were enjoying this match; both of them competed to their strengths.

"Night Slash!" Brittany ordered again.

"Brave Bird!"

As Scizor took to the air, its pincers became covered in a purple aura which had some sparks fly out of it. On the other side, Staraptor's body became engulfed in flamed as it flew up high before those flames turned blue. Scizor flew up while Staraptor descended and when they met, there was a huge sound. In mid-air, Scizor attempted to push Staraptor's Brave Bird back with its darkness engulfed pincers. But Staraptor's attack proved to be too strong as he pushed Scizor and finally after a loud grunt, he took Scizor and descended right towards the ground.

There was a huge thud when Staraptor brought Scizor down with his Brave bird which caused dust to cover the area of impact. A few seconds passed as everyone waited for either of the two Pokemon to come out of the dust cloud. Staraptor was the first to fly out of it as blue sparks cackled through his body which signified the recoil damage that he suffered. A few moments later, the smoke cleared and Scizor could be seen struggling to stand.

A grimace appeared on Brittany's face when she saw the condition her Pincer Pokemon was in. She realized that it couldn't go on with the battle for too long. She must end this quickly if possible. Her blood pumped as she pointed her hand forward. "Lets End this with Giga Impact!"

Ash frowned and wondered how Scizor could use such a powerful move in the condition it was in. But his eyes widened when Scizor flew and its body became engulfed in orange streaks. Before Ash could give a command, Scizor launched itself on Staraptor as the aura it was surrounded with turned purple. Staraptor cried in pain as Scizor slammed into him at full force.

Staraptor wouldn't go down so easily though. Even after taking damage from a move like Giga Impact, he fought back with Aerial Ace which acted as the finishing blow for Scizor. The Bug and Steel-type lied on the ground with no signs of movement and bruises all over its body. Its opponent fared marginally better though; the Giga Impact had done quite a lot of damage and Staraptor didn't have much power left either.

The referee raised the red flag in Ash's direction and announced. "Scizor is unable to battle. Staraptor wins!"

* * *

"So Darkrai or not, Ash still wins." Aaron joked. "I guess you can say he is not too weak."

"That's not a good sign for Brittany, is it?" Drake replied sarcastically.

"He did come this far without using his Darkrai so we can't be surprised if he keeps on winning." Agatha said.

"Scizor is unable to battle. Staraptor wins!" The referee raised the green flag towards Ash once again.

* * *

On the field, Ash sighed in relief. That Giga Impact had taken him as well as Staraptor by surprise. The Scizor that had just been recalled into its Pokeball by its trainer gave its all in that battle. Ash raised his Pokeball towards Staraptor once he registered his condition though.

"Take a rest, Staraptor." Ash said into the Pokeball which he attached back to his belt before unclipping another one. "That was quite a battle, Brittany." He complimented his opponent.

"Yeah!" Brittany admitted with a wide smile as she readied her next Pokeball. She stared at her next Pokeball one last time before she summoned the Pokemon in it. "Go, Abomasnow!"

The Pokemon that stood on the field was one covered in pure white snow, hands and legs seemingly made out of green grass. It roared once and then glared across the field.

As soon as Ash laid eyes on that Pokemon, he knew that this one was strong too, just like the other Pokemon that Brittany had used. However, he had his own special Pokemon in his next Pokeball that had been waiting to fight. Ash smirked before he tossed the Pokeball up in the air, his eyes free of any anxiety whatsoever.

Out of the Pokeball flew a beautiful avian having large brown and cream-colored wings, sharp talons and a short, hooked beak. The Flying-type took to the skies straight away showing its magnificent form to everyone watching. It took a few moments to relish the environment before it hovered back in front of Ash.

When Ash had gotten back to get Pidgeot in Kanto, she was overjoyed to see her trainer again. It had taken him a long time but she had faith that he would never forget her and would eventually come to pick her up again. Many of the birds of her flock had evolved and gained strength and they didn't need her protection any longer which allowed her to join Ash once again.

Now, her trainer took in the amazing form of his Pidgeot in a stadium after a long while. She was much bigger than a normal Pokemon of her species and he knew that she was much stronger than most of them too. He'd been quite pleased to know that she'd continued to get stronger even after he left her to take care of the flock of Pidgey and Pidgeotto. And he was sure that battling alongside her would feel even more amazing.

"Abmasnow, Blizzard!" Brittany shouted, wary that Ash's flyer was weak against Ice-types moves.

Even though he heard the move, Ash didn't give out a command to his Pokemon. He simply let the balls of snow that scurried from Abomasnow's body and sent chills throughout the stadium be evaded without his command. And the Pokemon did by flying to a height where Abomasnow's Blizzard didn't reach.

"We'll need to aim a sharper attack." Brittany thought with gritted teeth at the failure of the first move of her Pokemon. "Bring it down with Ice Beam!"

"Dodge it Pidgeot." Ash told his Pokemon, not a worry in his tone. The beam of dizzy ice that flew from Abomasnow's mouth headed towards his Pidgeot but she definitely had heard her trainer's orders. She increased her speed and almost vanished from sight, effectively dodging the Ice-type attack. Ash saw this as an opening. "Aerial Ace!"

With many streaks of silver energy surrounding her body, Ash's first Flying-type spread her wings wide and flew into the skies. As the sun made it hard to spot her, she descended speedily towards Abomasnow. There was a cry from Brittany for Abomasnow to get out of the way but it couldn't since Pidgeot disappeared before striking it with her move. That move was super-effective and caused quite a lot of damage to the dual type Pokemon of Bruttany's, which became evident by the cry it let out. The power that the move contained even pushed it back a fair few feet.

Grass-types moves that might constrain Pidgeot wouldn't do much damage, Brittany realized that. But Ash's avian seemed to be avoiding all the Ice-type attacks that Abomasnow threw at her. Plus, the attacking power she possessed was extremely threatening. The brunette just couldn't think of a way to get a clear hit that will leave the Pidgeot shaken.

Although, her Abomasnow possessed a move that might just shift the momentum in her favor. "Ice Shard, now!" she ordered urgently.

A shining ball of ice formed between Abomasnow's raised hands, which it then launched at Pidgeot, just a few feet away from it. The attack suddenly got an increase in speed and smashed into Pidgeot not even a second after it was thrown.

Ash winced as Pidgeot's amazing feather got covered in ice. He had just taken it a little easy. But there wasn't much he needed to worry about. He was sure that Pidgeot's strength combined with her speed and type advantage would prove too much for Abomasnow. "Finish this with Brave Bird!"

"You have to dodge, Abomasnow!" Brittany cried in terror. She understood that this could be the finishing move if it hit. Although she later realized that this could be her chance. "Use Blizzard!"

With a loud chirp, Pidgeot tugged in her wings and her entire form appeared as if it was burning in bluish flames. As she leapt up in the air and then came down, the flames became red and she extended her wings again. Abomasnow opened his maw and released cold winds along with a barrage of snowballs. The Blizzard met with Pidgeot's Brave Bird and even though she suffered from the move, she didn't let up. She continued to charge and slammed her entire body into Abomasnow, the force of which sent it crashing into the cemented boundary of the battlefield.

Sparks cackled around Pidgeot's entire body, signifying the recoil while Abomasnow had been knocked out as it sat on the boundary with no consciousness.

The referee didn't take long to call the round. "Abomasnow is unable to battle. Pidgeot wins!"

Another quick fight, another quick loss. Brittany appeared terrified as she called back her Abomasnow, head and shoulders hanging low. Not only had Darkrai destroyed her, but Ash's other Pokemon too had beaten her Pokemon. She conceded that Ash's Pidgeot was strong, but she at least would take one of Ash's Pokemon down. It had been a totally one-sided affair but she wouldn't go away without one win.

Clenching her fists in determination, she raised her head again. Her gaze contained a purpose now that she had lacked throughout this fight. Her next Pokemon was ready to go in the Pokeball in her hand and it was her last hope to retain any sort of pride now.

The girl tossed the Pokeball up in the air and in a bright flash of light materialized a bipedal Pokemon with a primarily red body and accents of beige, yellow and grey. The Pokemon had beige, hair-like feathers that surrounded its chest and abdomen and a red, V-shaped crest on its head It roared to announce its arrival and stared down at the Pidgeot that hovered on the other side of the field. The bird Pokemon accepted the challenge and chirped back in reply.

"It's all up to you, Blaziken" Brittany muttered to her starter that had been with her from the very beginning of her days as a trainer. "Flamethrower!"

The Blaze Pokemon summoned the flames from its innermost parts and fired a hot, orange jet that was its Flamethrower. The attack could only graze Pidgeot's feathers though, as the Flying-type flew out of the way to evade it. But even that little touch with seemed to have done damage to force Pidgeot let out a cry.

Right from the first attack, Ash realized that this Pokemon was a notch above the others that Brittany owned. Speed that would take his Pidgeot by surprise was something to be reckoned with. He would have to take this battle more seriously than the last one, that was for certain.

"Quick Attack." Ash commanded, hands in his pockets.

Pidgeot obeyed as she charged at Blaziken, almost disappearing from sight for a moment or two. Only white trails that she left behind could be seen before it struck her foe with her speedy move. However, the Blaziken stood still. It did take damage but it never showed the pain on its face.

"Use Sky Uppercut!" Brittany shouted.

"Intercept it with Aerial Ace!"

Blaziken ran forward, gathering power in both its fists which glowed silver. At the same time, Pidgeot got covered in white streaks as she dashed at her foe with wings outstretched. Just as Pidgeot neared, Blaziken shouted its name and attempted to uppercut Pidgeot but she suddenly disappeared. Blaziken's eyes widened when she smashed into it with Aerial Ace. However, it wasn't one to let its opponent just dictate terms to it as it landed the Sky Uppercut on Pidgeot with its other hand.

Both Pokemon visibly suffered damage from their attacks as they winced and returned to their trainer's side. After they recovered, they both shared a fiery glance at one another before crying out once again. Both of them acknowledged that the other was a worthy foe and that they would need to be at their best to win the battle.

"Flamethrower!"

"Hurricane!"

A jet of flames that increased the temperature and burned the air around it left Blaziken's jaw and headed at Pidgeot. The Flying-type dodged the attack in a show of astonishing speed before she flapped her massive wings rapidly. Crescent-shaped silver blades left the wings of the Bird Pokemon and met with the air, creating a vicious tornado. The Hurricane caused all sorts of debris to blow in it and the air current rose, blowing everything inside the stadium. As everyone shielded themselves, the Hurricane headed at Blaziken but the Pokemon was just about quick enough to come out of it with hardly any major injuries.

The Hurricane was strong, Brittany admitted to herself. Ash held the advantage of type in this battle and that could prove to be the match defining factor in this bout.

When he saw Blaziken evade the Hurricane, Ash frowned. It was a move that his Pidgeot had just recently perfected so it wasn't a huge surprise to him that a Pokemon as strong as Brittany's Blaziken managed to evade. Add to that that Hurricane itself was a move that had a good chance of missing its target because the way the air moved had an effect on it. A strong brewing air in one direction could heavily influence the accuracy of that vicious Flying-type move.

As the tornado created by Pidgeot died down, Brittany again took the initiative. "Quick Attack into Blaze Kick!"

Ash frowned at the combination move of his opponent. "Dodge it with your own Quick Attack!"

The two Pokemon vanished instantly and only left a few white trails behind them to follow. A few seconds passed as they both remained in Quick Attack. But suddenly, a cry came from Ash's Pidgeot who crashed to the ground, a burn mark visible on one of her wings. Blaziken too, appeared soon enough but it was rather unharmed in the latest round.

A grimace crossed Ash's face as he saw his Pidgeot recover. He'd underestimated Blaziken's speed. He decided to mug around no more. "Brave Bird!"

"Flamethrower before it hits you!" Brittany ordered as she gritted her teeth. A direct hit from a powerful Flying-type move like Brave Bird wouldn't leave her Blaziken in the best of shapes.

Yet again, Pidgeot tugged her wings together and let her entire body get covered in light blue flames before she shot herself at her opponent. As she unfurled her wings, Blaziken released a Flamethrower right her way. But she was too close to retreat and dodge it now. The Bird Pokemon simply cried as she met with the Flamethrower and even though her entire body singed in the flames, she continued her descend towards Blaziken.

The worst fears of Brittany's came true when a burned Pidgeot with a multitude of bruises on her body crashed into her Blaziken. The Fire and Fighting-type wailed in agony as he was pushed back by Pidgeot's Brave Bird before eventually being sent flying backwards. It did manage to get a hold of itself but it was on its knees, panting heavily.

Pidgeot appeared in no better shape. She'd been burned thoroughly by her foe's Flamethrower which was by no means weak. She considered herself lucky enough to be still conscious after that scorching blow. Her wings hanged by her side, her body lied at the ground while she still waited to get an order from her trainer.

At the condition her Blaziken was in, Brittany could hold out a scream. "Blaziken!" She could see that the condition of her Pokemon was bad.

"Aerial Ace!"

Just as Ash shouted that though, Blaziken collapsed on the ground, eyes shut and not a sign of movement. His Pidgeot, although injured still remained conscious.

The referee took a good, hard look at Blaziken and declared. "Blaziken is unable to battle. Pidgeot wins!" he raised the red flag towards Ash. "Therefore, the winner of this semi-final match is Ash Ketchum!"

A massive cheer went around the stadium even before the winner was announced and they still roared. The spectators weren't just treated to a Darkrai show, but the other Pokemon had a lot to offer as well. But the real reason for this excitement of theirs was anticipation. Anticipation of what was to come in a few days time. The final of the Sinnoh League would be between Ash and Tobias; between the two trainers who owned Darkrai and hopefully between the two Darkrai themselves.

A fight between two Legendary Pokemon wasn't something everyone got to see. People could consider themselves lucky to just get a glimpse of a Legendary Pokemon. But to just imagine a battle between two was ridiculous. They couldn't wait for the day of the final to arrive.

Brittany sighed and raised her Pokeball towards her fallen starter Pokemon. "You did amazing out there, Blaziken." She whispered after Blaziken was sucked inside the ball.

Ash finally let a smile cross his features. He'd advanced to the final of the Sinnoh League and he felt inexpressible delight. He finally cleared the hurdle that he couldn't in the previous two Pokemon League he entered. But he wasn't satisfied. He wouldn't be until he'd beaten Tobias and won the Sinnoh League trophy for himself.

Soon, he brought back his attention to his Pokemon that lied on the field, completely exhausted. "Rest up, Pidgeot." He raised Pidgeot's Pokeball and let his Flying-type from the Kanto region have a rest in her Pokeball. He liked fighting together with his old friend again. They hadn't been in a Pokemon battle since the Indigo League and he'd surely missed his companion.

"Brittany," Ash called out to his dejected opponent, getting her to look at him. "That was amazing. My Pidgeot's one of my oldest Pokemon and your Blaziken is pretty powerful to give her a hard time." He said with a smile, an expression completely different from the intense one that he held during the entirety of the battle.

The girl shot a wry smile back at him. "Blaziken is my strongest Pokemon. And even he couldn't beat one of your Pokemon." She sighed in disappointment but shook her head. She'd battled bravely against a trainer who was good enough to command a Legendary Pokemon such as Darkrai in battle. "I was simply outclassed." Her expression changed to a cheery one as she ruffled her hair. "Don't you dare lose to Tobias after you've thrashed me like this. It would be unforgivable if the trainer Brittany lost to loses to someone else."

Ash smiled at her one last time before the two turned around and left the arena. One of them would be back to this very same stadium in four days while the other one would surely watch the battle and cheer on for his victory.

* * *

**Okay done! Only one battle remains in the Sinnoh League now: Ash vs. Tobias!**

**How was the chapter? Come on, tell me about it in the reviews.**

**A few of you didn't like that Darkrai debuted in the semi-final. I might not have an answer to that but Ash sure does, which he will reveal in the next chapter.**

**Next update probably on Christmas or Boxing Day. No promises though. I do have some time and I plan to write the next chapter before then and might even update before Christmas but I don't want to make a promise and then not keep it due to some reason. **


	12. The Ones He Believed In

_**The Ones He Believed In**_

* * *

**Alright guys, I am a day late that the day I gave you for this chapter(although I did say I wouldn't promise).**

**Anyways, a belated Merry Chirstmas to you all! **

**Now, you can move on to the chapter. I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Ash walked through the arena, aware of the glances that were shot at him. The officials and guards had all probably watched his match on the many screens that were throughout the inside of the stadium and he could guess that they were simply amazed by him owning Darkrai. Hopefully, he thought, none of them would cause him any trouble and he could get away without much of a fuss.

He made his way through quickly but when he reached the exit, he rolled his eyes. He could see more than a few reporters and quite a few fans waiting outside the gate. He figured they must be waiting for him. After Tobias' first match, he'd gone through something similar. This could be pretty tiring and at the moment, he didn't want to be swarmed by a herd of reporters or people asking him about his battle or Darkrai.

The only idea that came into his mind was for him to quickly run away before anyone could get a hold of him. People inside wouldn't cause him trouble since only authorities were allowed so another alternative was for him to wait for those people to go away. Well, most of them anyway.

Although, waiting was not one of his forte. He wasn't the most impatient guy but right now, he wanted to have some time alone. The battle hadn't been too exhausting for him but the many things that had gone through his mind in the time had made him weary.

In the meantime, he decided it would be best to get his Pokemon healed in the stadium's Pokemon Center first. He placed his belt – which had only five Pokeballs – on the counter across which, an ever so calm Nurse Joy beamed at him. "I would like my Pokemon healed if you don't mind."

The nurse nodded. "It will only take a minute," she took all the Pokeball from Ash's belt and placed them in a tray before she headed into the room behind her.

A minute later, she was already out. "Here you go," she chimed as she placed all of the Pokeballs on the counter.

"Thanks a lot, Nurse Joy!" Ash grinned at the pink-haired woman. He quickly attached all of the Pokeballs to his belt and again, glanced at the exit. And the same sight met his eyes. All the reporters were still present out there and if anything, there were more of them now then a couple of minutes ago. He wrinkled his forehead, attempting to think of a way to get out of here without having to answer all of the questions that might be thrown his way by the media.

Although, luckily for Ash, one of the officials had noticed the uneasiness that Ash's face held. The man dressed in a full black suit approached Ash from his position. "Sir, if you don't want to face the media, we could escort you." He offered.

Ash turned to face the man and as he took in what he'd just said, the trainer sighed. "That would be great," he smiled at the guard. "I don't feel like being mobbed by the media right now."

The man nodded before he called a couple of guards dressed in the same suit as him. "Clear the media outside." He ordered the men who stood at attention in front of him.

The two nodded and straightway went outside and just in a few minutes, they'd been able to successfully shoo off everyone that was outside. There were a few retorting but the guards proved to be capable enough to get them to go away.

Ash was amazed at how efficient they were. He knew that the area around the stadiums belonged to the Pokemon League but the media could be stubborn. They weren't the easiest people to deal with and generally got what they want. It wasn't an easy task to have get away from them.

He didn't think about that long however. "Thanks for that," He thanked the man with a smile.

"The trainers' comfort is our priority." The man said.

Ash nodded and waved at the man as he headed straight for the exit. He had lots to think about ahead of his battle with Tobias. But right now, he simply wanted to spend some time alone in a place where no one would disturb him. The decision for revealing his Darkrai had been given a lot of thought by him and he just wanted to clear his mind before he moved forward.

* * *

"I wasn't expecting you to use Darkrai in this match," Professor Oak commented. He sat across Ash in the hotel room. Although he was glad as well as amazed to watch Ash's Darkrai in battle, he was surprised by the timing of it. He expected Ash to keep the Dark-type as his secret weapon and unleash him on Tobias with the intention of taking him by surprise.

Ash smirked as he saw the Professor narrow his eyes at him. "You didn't expect me to catch a Darkrai either, did you?"

Oak raised an eyebrow in amusement to the response he evoked. "Ahh.." he leaned into his seat and remarked. "You've grown sharp, Ash. You're no longer the innocent kid who'd blur out everything when asked."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Ash chuckled. He himself had realized that he wasn't the same as what he used to be a few months back. He marked it down as Darkrai having some sort of an effect on him.

"So Ash," Oak started, his gaze fixed at Ash in interest. "How are you going to go about in the final? I imagine you must already have decided the Pokemon you're going in the battle with?"

Ash mused at the questions, looking up at the ceiling in thought. "I have decided on the team that I will battle with," He answered truthfully. "But I still haven't figured out a strategy."

"You do have four days to think about it," Oak said. "Don't put too much pressure on yourself." His eyes turned serious as he put his hands on the trainer's shoulder. "Your Pokemon are strong and you can match Tobias's every Pokemon. In fact, I think you even have the advantage in this battle. Don't worry too much about it. Just take this as any other battle."

Ash looked at the Professor and a hint of a smile crept up on his face. "I see Tobias as just as another trainer I have to beat to win the Sinnoh League. Although," he paused for a moment. "No matter how much I tell myself that this is just another one of the League battles I've faced so many times, I still can't keep my mind off it. It's the final after all. It's the first time I am to be in a Pokemon League Final."

At first, Oak looked at Ash with a bit of surprise before he let out a titter. "That's true as well. I can't say I was not nervous at your age at times like these."

"If even the great Samuel Oak wasn't totally calm at times like these, how can you expect a _nobody_ like me to?" Ash joked, raising an eyebrow.

Professor Oak let himself laugh out loud at that. This did make him nostalgic about how his days as a trainer had gone. He'd quite enjoyed being a trainer and had some of the best moments in his life as one. Seeing young kids like Ash enjoy their time was something he always relished.

"You two seem to be having a good time." Brock commented. He took a seat next to Ash and asked. "So, what's the fun discussion about?"

"It was about how Ash is going to prepare for his battle against Tobias but it seems we've turned from the topic." Oak said, finally getting a hold of his laughter.

"I am pretty sure you are done with most of the things," Brock smiled as he turned to Ash.

Ash nodded. "Yeah, most of the things," he admitted, repeating Brock's exact statement. "Although there are a few that I still need to work on. I am going to face a trainer who has reached the finals by only using one Pokemon. Who knows what kind of other Pokemon he might have."

"That's the biggest problem for you," Oak said, his tone devoid of the laughter that it held a second ago. "While it's true that Tobias will be guessing about your Pokemon after the semi-final match, the fact is that we don't know about any of his other Pokemon except for Darkrai."

"Yeah," Brock agreed. "For all we know, he might have another Legendary or more. Catching Darkrai would have required a team of strong Pokemon on Tobias' side."

Ash dryly nodded at the opinions of both Brock and Professor Oak. Ash might have got him a little uncomfortable but in reality, Tobias still had the advantage. While Tobias could figure out half of his team from the information in the Pokemon League database, he had no way of knowing what Tobias could throw at him since it was the guy's first official Pokemon League.

Defeating his Darkrai would be trouble enough, but if he revealed another Legendary or two, things might not go the way as Ash planned. That was one of the reason Ash hadn't come up with a solid strategy yet. He didn't want to go prepared for Darkrai and end up facing something entirely different along with it. He had to make sure he had all bases covered.

Even though he'd decided on his team, he still needed to prepare a prepare a strategy that he could go by. The battle could be unpredictable and Ash indeed had the ability to create strategies on his feet, but against Pokemon of the level of Darkrai, that simply wouldn't be enough. A plan that he could follow if he faced against certain situations was essential.

"What could he have other than Darkrai?" Ash muttered, pondering in thought about that very question.

"Ash," Brock called. "Don't worry about what Tobias will do. Just focus on the strengths of your Pokemon."

"I agree," Oak nodded, folding his arms as he leaned back in his chair. "You have Pokemon strong enough to match even a Legendary. We've already seen that. That Darkrai of his isn't unbeatable and I am sure his other Pokemon are the same. Concentrate on what your Pokemon can do instead of using that time thinking what your opponent would."

Ash gritted his teeth. He was frustrated that he couldn't do what the Professor told him. He knew that was the right thing to do and that was what he had done in his entire life as a trainer. He'd always believed in his Pokemon instead of worrying about the Pokemon his opponent possessed. However this time, he just couldn't kill that lingering feeling of nervousness. The scenario of losing here terrified him.

The trainer took a long breath and then let out a sigh. "I think that's the right way to go as well." He stood up and smiled at the two of his friends that were as close as family to him. "I am going for a walk. I need to freshen my mind."

Oak grinned at him proudly. "That's a good idea. You've prepared enough. You just need to believe in your Pokemon now."

Brock too smiled at his friend. "Just give it your best, Ash. No matter what happens, we'll always be here for you."

Their support really meant a lot to Ash. It gave him great relief to have people like Brock and Professor Oak that he could always turn to whenever he felt the need for it. He was truly grateful for their support.

"Thanks guys!" Ash grinned, took his Pokemon belt and headed towards the door. He still had four days left and if he wasted them worrying about Tobias like this, he might not even survive till the final.

* * *

Ash gazed at the sea as the cool breeze kissed his skin. He'd felt good relaxing on the seashore; it helped him take his mind off of the final battle with Tobias. He'd been sitting on the sand for almost an hour and he had to say he quite enjoyed it. He hadn't had the time to be like this for quite some time. His Pokemon journey had taken a lot of his time and the last time he really relaxed at a place like this was more than a year ago.

He stayed like that for several more minutes before he opened his eyes and stood up. He dusted the sand off of his clothes and gazed at his Pokeball belt. Those six Pokemon were the ones that he had chosen. Those were the Pokemon that would be shouldering the responsibility of achieving victory in his first Pokemon League.

He had chosen those Pokemon after a long time of thought. He had these six in mind even before he reached the semi-finals. In fact, these were the Pokemon he'd decided to use against Tobias from the time it was revealed that the guy owned a Darkrai. He couldn't be sure if he would be facing him or if he himself would reach the finals but he'd figured that it would be better to be prepared to face a trainer like him.

Unclipping one of the six Pokeballs from his belt, Ash gazed at it and after a few moments, he tossed it up in the air. The Pokemon in the ball materialized and hovered in front of him.

'_Hello, Ash!'_ Darkrai greeted his trainer.

Ash couldn't help but chuckle at his Pokemon's behavior. Darkrai hadn't left behind his formal behavior yet. Although he was getting better and more comfortable – as he would say – all the time. He couldn't expect the Pitch Black Pokemon to suddenly start behaving differently to the way he normally did. He couldn't imagine himself changing so quickly so neither should he expect his Pokemon to. That was his psychology, at least.

"Hello Darkrai," Ash smiled at his Pokemon and placed a hand on Darkrai's shoulder. He gazed at his Legendary Pokemon with pride. "Are you ready for the final?"

'_I have always been ready to battle.'_ Darkrai announced telepathically.

Ash smiled at the response he received. "That's good to know. I am counting on all of you to win the Sinnoh League," he grinned for a moment before his expression changed into a serious one. "Do you think we can win?"

This time, the Dark-type gazed into Ash's eyes for several moments before he replied. _'If you think we can, then I do believe we can win.'_

"You should know that I do believe in you as well as all of my other Pokemon," Ash told him.

'_I have no doubt about that, Ash,'_ Darkrai said. _'The respect your Pokemon give you and the admiration they show towards you is proof of that.'_

At the mention of his Pokemon's admiration towards him, Ash couldn't help but chuckle playfully. "What about you?" he questioned curiously.

'_I wouldn't have joined you if I didn't trust you.'_ Darkrai stated in his usual tone, not a thing out of the ordinary.

"By the way Darkrai," Ash called as he remembered something that he wanted to discuss. "After the battle, Lance and Cynthia have been dying to meet you." He informed his Dark-type Pokemon. "Do you mind seeing them?" Receiving no response from Darkrai for a few moments, Ash frowned. "If you don't wanna meet anyone, that's fine as well. I can deny them."

'_As long as you don't have a problem with that, I'll meet anyone.'_ Darkrai stated, still hovering at the same place where he'd first materialized.

Ash raised both his eyebrows at what Darkrai had just said. He shook his head in amusement; he should've expected that from him. He was quite the obedient Pokemon, considering its status as Legendary and its previous exploits in Alamos Town. He just couldn't begin to imagine why the people of that village despised him so much. If anything, he'd always been the protector of Alamos Town and yet, barely anyone gave him the credit he deserved.

"Those two will be excited to hear that," Ash muttered, reminding himself just how exuberant the two were the first time he'd talked to them after his semi-final battle against Brittany.

Well, if he wasn't such a Legendary magnet, he would himself be looking forward to meeting a Legendary. Luckily or unluckily, he didn't have to go on huge adventures to meet a Legendary, they simply stumbled across him. Whether it was coincidental or planned he would never know.

He brought his attention back to his Pokemon who did nothing but stare at him without moving an inch. He could swear that if it was anyone else, they would be scared to death by that glare – which wasn't exactly meant to be scare Ash but it was just how deadly Darkrai was.

"I am going to be counting on you, Darkrai," Ash grinned as he patted Darkrai on the shoulders.

Darkrai slightly bowed his head. _'I will try my best to live up to your expectations, Master.'_

"You have quite a dry sense of humor." Ash remarked as he rolled his eyes. He knew that Darkrai had already stopped calling him Master after he urged him to do so many times. So this time, it was simply Darkrai trying to make Ash laugh. Unsuccessfully, of course.

* * *

Ash waved at the two people that had just appeared in front of him. The two waved back and flashed him smiles as they approached him.

"I wasn't expecting you to let us meet Darkrai," Lance stated as he halted in front of Ash. "I didn't think you would and if you did, I was sure it would be after the finals."

"You were?" Cynthia tilted her head as she looked at Lance, perplexed. "I never doubted that Ash would agree to our request right away."

Lance chuckled. "Ahh…" He scratched his head, a smile on his face. "I guess I should have trusted Ash to trust us more, eh?"

"Yeah, Lance," Ash joined in, shaking his head before he let out a titter. "I am so disappointed that you don't trust me enough." He folded his hands and stared at Lance.

At that moment, both Lance and Cynthia burst out in laughter. They hadn't seen Ash trying to make jokes. Well intentionally, anyway. As they didn't stop laughing for another few seconds, Ash frowned.

"If you keep on laughing like that, I might have a change of mind," He warned them.

As soon as he said that, the grins on the faces of the two Champions disappeared into thin air. Their looks now became much more serious. They were looking forward to meeting Ash's Darkrai. It wasn't as if they hadn't met a Legendary Pokemon before – both of them had met some along their journey. This Darkrai might be different however. At least, they were told Ash's Darkrai was different from the Pokemon League President.

"I am not sure this is the best place," Ash observed as he glanced around the surrounding. There wasn't anyone there except for them but it would always be safer to find a place where they could be sure no one would appear.

"You have a place in mind?" Lance inquired.

Ash nodded as he turned to his right and walked a couple of steps. "There is a good place that I've found where I could rest alone and no one interrupts," he said, looking back at them above his shoulder. "Let's go."

Ash's hand held Darkrai's Pokeball as he stood in front of Lance and Cynthia. The two Champions appeared somewhat uneasy, if not nervous. It could be because of the terror Darkrai spread during its first appearance in the battle against Brittany. To an extent, even Ash was a bit taken aback even though he was used to it by now so the ones who hadn't had the luxury of being around his Darkrai would be affected.

Ash nodded and simply tapped on his Pokeball and a flash of light came out of it. Lance as well as Cynthia watched with bathed breaths as the Darkness Pokemon of Ash's materialized in front of them. He didn't exert the same darkness that it exuded when he was called upon by Ash in the semi-finals. That time, he was readying himself for battle hence that power release but here, he was relaxed.

Lance watched with his lips slightly apart. He was speechless. Watching this Darkrai battle was one thing but looking at him upclose like this was something that made even him shiver. This was the power of a true Legendary Pokemon, there was no doubt in his mind. Even when he'd watched Tobias' Darkrai in battle, he didn't feel the fear that he felt when he saw Ash's for the first time. He had felt this type of power a few times before. A few times when he'd come across other Legendaries.

Cynthia was in the same state, unable to speak or move at the sight. It wasn't as if Darkrai was doing anything extraordinary; he hadn't even moved an inch from the position it took when it materialized a few moments ago but simply being in his presence at this range was overwhelming. She couldn't believe that Ash wasn't affected by it in the least. How could Ash be so comfortable?

Ash wrinkled his forehead as he realized how awed Lance and Cynthia were. This had happened before to the two people he'd shown Darkrai to – Professor Oak and Charles Goodshow. He'd expected Cynthia and Lance to be more prepared to see his Legendary Pokemon but alas, they weren't.

"So much power…." Lance muttered, still unable to take his eyes off Darkrai. "I can feel the overwhelming power that Darkrai is giving off."

"Yeah," Cynthia agreed in no better condition than Lance. "It's nothing like seeing it from afar."

Ash sighed at the antics of the two Champion that he didn't think he would see. He shook his head before he turned to Darkrai. "Say hi to Lance and Cynthia," he pointed his hand to Lance and then at Cynthia in an attempt to clarify for Darkrai who was who. Not that he needed to. "The Champions of Kanto and Johto and the Champion of Sinnoh."

Straightaway, Darkrai bowed his head slightly and greeted the two. _'Hello, Mr. Lance, Ms. Cynthia.'_

Ash frowned at the way Darkrai spoke. He noted that Darkrai had just stopped talking formally with him. With all other humans, he would probably speak the same way as he did with him when he'd first joined his team.

"It can use telepathy as well?!" Lance battered out in disbelief. It wasn't as if it was unusual for Legendary Pokemon to use telepathy but this was the first time he'd heard a Legendary which wasn't a Psychic-type do so.

"Yeah," Ash confirmed for the Kanto and Johto Champion with a nod. "You look surprised."

At that way Ash said that last statement, Cynthia shook her head after she'd collected herself back. He remained as blunt as ever. Anyone would be surprised by this. Not only did Ash have a Pokemon, but also it could communicate with such ease.

Lance brought himself back to his senses before he spoke again. "I am surprised, Ash. While it's true that Pokemon can use telepathy, I have never seen a Dark-type use it. In fact, I've never seen a Pokemon that's not a Psychic-type use telepathy."

"Neither have I," Cynthia said, her arms folded. "Tell me Ash, how did you catch Darkrai?"

The question was something that hovered in Lance's mind as well.

Ash scratched his chin as he smiled awkwardly at the question. "How do I put it?" he pondered. He then turned to Darkrai as he got an idea. "You would be able to explain it to them better, Darkrai."

The mentioned Pokemon nodded and turned his deadly gaze at Lance and Cynthia. _'I joined my Master out of respect.'_

"Did you?" Ash shot the query immediately with a raised eyebrow at Darkrai.

'_That was the prime reason along with the admiration I have for you.'_ The Pokemon said.

"I don't think respect would be enough for anyone to catch a Legendary," Lance stated as he curiously eyed Darkrai, careful enough to avoid his gaze.

"I agree." Cynthia said. "How did you really catch Darkrai? What kind of a battle did you have?"

Ash rubbed the back of his head as he placed a hand of Darkrai's shoulder. "I didn't have a battle with Darkrai. He simply decided he wanted to come with me. I am not sure of the reason though he always says it's because of respect and stuff like that."

"That's ridiculous!" Lance all but shouted. He couldn't simply come to terms with the fact that such a Pokemon would just join anyone. He would agree that Ash was different but this was simply unbelievable to him. "I have never even heard of something like that."

"But that's just how it is," Ash repeated. "I don't know what went inside his mind when he decided he wanted to join me but I am just glad he did."

Cynthia looked at Darkrai. "Is that really all?"

'_Yes.'_ Darkrai confirmed plainly.

Even though Darkrai and Ash both had said it so many times that the Legendary simply joined Ash and didn't battle, he still didn't know why he just couldn't come to terms with it. He shook his head frantically, blinked a few times and eventually sighed. There wasn't any meaning just thinking about why. The fact was that Ash owned a Darkrai and he'd gotten to see it up close. He had to admit it was fascinating just laying eyes on the Pokemon of that caliber.

"I guess we'll leave it at that then," Lance finally let a smile spread across his face. He'd been taking this too seriously and he realized that it was best to just leave it as it was. "I hope we haven't caused you any trouble, Darkrai."

'_Not at all.'_ Darkrai still stared at him but he couldn't help it. This was how he normally behaved and he couldn't change that.

A glance at the two Champions and Ash followed what they wanted and lightly tapped Darkrai with his Pokeball. The Darkness Pokemon was sucked inside in the ball before Ash clipped it back to his belt.

Cynthia and Lance let out sighs of relief. They were excited to meet the Pokemon but being in his presence wasn't the easiest thing to do. At first, his gaze felt as if it was strangling them but they had felt comfortable after Darkrai eased himself to the two strangers.

"That's quite a Pokemon, Ash," Lance complimented with a cheeky grin.

"Definitely," Cynthia joined in but a pout appeared on her face soon enough. "Although I am really disappointed that you didn't tell me about Darkrai earlier even thought you told Mr. Goodshow about him."

Ash shrugged, ignoring the cute expression that Cynthia had on her face. "I am sorry for that Cynthia. I didn't want to tell about it to anyone," he explained to the blonde. "It just turned out that Professor Oak had told Mr. Goodshow about it and I figured that he wouldn't leave me alone until I did show him Darkrai."

Lance nodded. "That President of ours can be pushy,"

Though Cynthia wasn't buying that. "Then you could have told me about it at least," she retorted, taking a step dangerously closer to Ash.

Ash smiled uneasily; this Champion wasn't going to be the easiest to deal with. "I could but," he paused, unable to find the words to convince Cynthia right now.

"But what?" she demanded.

Ash acted as if he'd given up as an idea sparked up in his mind. "I wanted to surprise you by using Darkrai in a battle. It wouldn't be much of a surprise if I simply told it to you, you know?"

Cynthia eyed his skeptically. "It would've been the same,"

"No," Ash defended. "And besides, I didn't want to scare you. Mr. Goodshow was quite frightened after meeting Darkrai, you know? At least I think he was,"

Just as Cynthia was about to mouth a bag of words, Lance stepped between them. "I think that's enough. It happened so it happened. You can't do anything about it," he looked at Cynthia and smiled. "Come on, don't act like a child." He smirked devilishly.

"A child?!" Cynthia exclaimed as she took a few steps back, realizing how she was acting. "I wasn't acting like one." She quickly straightened herself and calmed herself down.

Lance grinned. "You were, but I'll forget about it," he muttered and looked back at Ash. "So Ash, what kind of a battle should we expect in the finals?"

Ash raised an eyebrow in interest. "What kind of battle? It all depends on what Tobias does."

"I won't ask you about what plans you have for the battle but do you have a plan to take out Tobias' Darkrai?" Lance asked.

For a few moments, Ash thought about the question. "Actually, I don't." he answered bluntly. "Only if I knew which other Pokemon he had, I might have already made a plan but since there is nothing known about any of his Pokemon except for Darkrai…."

"You at least have your Pokemon team figured out, don't you?" Cynthia inquired, evidently concerned about what Ash was doing.

Ash grinned. "Come on," he waved her off. "You don't think I am that irresponsible, do you?"

"I asked because I thought you are that irresponsible," Cynthia mumbled lowly, almost not enough for anyone around her to hear.

However, Ash had caught at least some of what she said. "So you did," he stared right at her.

The silence that spread around the three made Lance roll his eyes. Again, he stepped forward and tried to reduce the tension. "Let's talk about all of that with a cup of tea."

* * *

Ash dazed into the star-filled night sky, resting comfortably on the cool grass. The final of the Lily of the Valley Conference was the day after and he simply wanted to relax himself right now. He'd done all the preparations he could. His Pokemon had given it their all in training before the Sinnoh League as well as on his way to the final of the League. The only thing left for him to do now was to beat Tobias and claim the Sinnoh League Cup for himself.

He sighed as he glanced around himself. 6 Pokemon; the six Pokemon that he would be using in the final match were all there. However, there was silence around them right now. None of them made any noise.

The Pokemon all knew what an important match it was tomorrow but they weren't nervous. They believed in themselves and their trainer and they had the confidence that they could do it; that they could finally win a Pokemon League, something that they'd failed to do. Well, some of them at least.

In the four days that he had to prepare for the finals, Ash had come up with various plans so as to counter Tobias. He'd brainstormed and tried to prepare himself for every type of Pokemon that Tobias could throw his way. Although nothing could prepare himself for the real battle. He was aware of that; that not much he did before the battle would be of too much relevance. Only what he could and would do on the day in his match against Tobias would count. Only that would decide whether he could finally win a Pokemon League or not.

He thought back to the various Leagues that he'd participated in. Indigo League: Top 16. Johto League: Top 8. Hoenn League: Top 4. If that pattern continued, he would be losing in the final. He didn't believe much in such things but being up against someone whom he couldn't prepare enough, that thought didn't completely go out of his mind.

But he was ready this time. And so were his Pokemon. He let a smile spread across his face before he stood up and looked at all of his Pokemon. "Guys, let's give it our best! We'll win this!"

And each one of them responded in affirmative cries. They were ready to be unleashed.

* * *

Thousands of fans cheered for the battle as Ash stood just under the shed of the stadium. Just a few more steps and the entire world would be watching him. He was just minutes away from one of the most important battles of his life, if not his most important yet.

The raven-haired trainer hailing from Pallet Town inhaled before he strode into the battlefield. The stadium roared thunderously at the entrance of the two finalists. As the two took their positions on the field, the crowd began cheering names of either one of them. The two competitors smirked as they stared into each other's eyes.

"Get ready ladies and gentlemen!" The commentator yelled through the microphone. "It's the finals of the Lily of the Valley Conference. Our two finalists have certainly dominated most of their matches through the Sinnoh League. The red trainer is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town," As he said that, the crowd cheered even louder and he waited for them to calm down before he spoke again. "And the green trainer is Tobias. This promises to be the best battle of this year's Lily of the Valley Conference. Will we get to see the two Darkrai in action? We'll find out soon enough. For now, I'll simply hand over the Commentary box to the Four Champions that have graced us with their presence."

As soon as he finished, the crowd again roared loudly. This time, it was because four of the Champions – Lance, Wallace, Cynthia and Alder took – their seats in the commentary box. The looks on their faces showed just how much they too looked forward to this battle.

"I definitely didn't expect you to have a Darkrai, Ash." Tobias stared at Ash across the field as he readied his Pokeball, bringing it out of his long cape.

Ash stared right back at his opponent. "There are still lots of things I can do that you never could imagine. I guess you'll find out about a few of them during the match."

Tobias scoffed at the response he received but soon smirked. "You can expect the same from me."

"Thanks for the warning." Ash shot back.

Right as they finished their little battle of words, the referee appeared ready to announce the commencement of the match. He raised the two flags – one green while one red – above his head and announced. "The final match of the Lily of the Valley Conference will now begin. This will be a six-on-six battle and both the trainers can substitute Pokemon. Tobias has the first move." He brought the flags down at once. "Begin!"

The trainer who got the first move – Tobias tossed his Pokeball up in the air without any delays. The ball snapped open and his first Pokemon materialized in front of him. The entire crowd went silent for a couple of moments before they finally buzzed, much louder than they had before.

Ash eyed the Pokemon that hovered in front of Tobias keenly. It was a dragon whose lower half of the body was blue with jet-plane like wings and fin like feet with a red triangular mark on its chest while the upper half of its body was white. Ash simpered as the Latios cooed at his arrival. This was going to be quite the interesting battle. Good thing that Ash had come prepared to face a Dragon-type. He raised his own Pokeball and his Gabite roared loudly as he glared down at his opponent.

"You've got courage if you think your Dragon-type can beat my Latios," Tobias commented and raised his hand. "Dragon Claw!"

Right as those words left Tobias' mouth, Ash countered. "Use your Dragon Claw too!"

Both the dragon's claws enlarged and engulfed themselves in draconic energy. The two cried out and headed at one another, claws pointed upwards and intentions of hitting the other with damage that would give them the advantage.

* * *

**So, I know many of you might be disappointed that the final battle wasn't in this chapter. I just thought that it would be better to move a little away from Pokemon battles after battles for once. **

**Anyways, the next chapter will have the battle and lots of it. I hope you liked this chapter, at least a little.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey guys, how's it going? Alright, forget the word count. This is not a complete chapter. It's been 4 months since I last posted a chapter on this and there were lots of reviews and messages asking me whether I have abandoned the story or when I am going to update. I have been wanting to post a chapter of the fic from early April and I won't lie, I did have quite some time last month. But the reason I didn't write is because I just wasn't feeling like writing. I wanted the story to continue as I had the content being planned in my mind and I was enjoying thinking about it but just wasn't feeling like putting it into words. Kind of a writer's block, you could say.**

**Anyway, as I said, this isn't a complete chapter but I posted the first battle because I wanted to notify you guys about the status of the story and make it clear that "I do not plan on abandoning this story". So unless I die, I don't think this story will be abandoned.**

**I might complete this chapter by the weekend and post it again. (Don't worry, you'll probably be notified via email if I do.). But I might not complete it until the end of the month or the start of June. I will be busy in this month so I don't know whether I'll be able to write it or not.**

**On the other hand though, I might post about 2 or more chapters in the month if I am on a roll. As I said, I've just not been able to write for a while. It's like the words aren't flowing fluently enough, which reduces the speed of writing, and eventually, you get bored and don't feel like writing for a while.**

**So, read the small chapter for now and I promise you I'll be back by the end of May or start of June, if not earlier. Also, there is something in the chapter that you might not like if you pay lots of attention to the games.**

**I thank you for your understanding!**

* * *

The claws of the two Dragon-types met in the middle of the battlefield, creating sparks of the draconic energy that covered their claws. Both the Pokemon roared at one another before they gave their attacks a final push. However, the added energy caused the two to be pushed back by the other's attacks. Both Gabite and Latios landed back on their trainer's side and readied themselves for the next move, but not before growling at one another.

This was going to be a battle between two Dragons; two proud dragons who wanted to prove themselves to their trainers. They both understood what this battle meant to their trainers and they couldn't afford to let them down. It was Latios' first time appearing in a battle with so many people around and the same was true for Gabite.

The first bout made it clear to Ash that Latios and Gabite were evenly matched when it came to physical power. And that was one thing that had brought Ash to the edge. Latios was a Legendary Pokemon but his power in special techniques was much higher than his power in battles of raw physical ability. On the other hand, Gabite's strength lied in the power it could unleash in close combat. If Latios' physical abilities were of such high caliber, his fright of the Legendary Eon's Pokemon's other attacks was justified.

* * *

"What an amazing display of power!" Wallace exclaimed as he smiled in excitement of a fierce battle, worthy of being the final of the Sinnoh League.

"Indeed," Alder agreed. "Latios is a Legendary Pokemon after all. This shouldn't be surprising."

"However," Lance started lowly on the microphone in the commentary box. "There is a considerable difference in power between the two."

* * *

"Now Latios, Dragon Breath!" Tobias commanded on the field, a smirk spreading across his face as he noticed the slight unease on Ash's. This was what he wanted; this was what he'd done all along in this tournament. He'd defeated his opponents long before the battle had even begun.

"Don't let it hit you, Gabite!" Ash yelled, realizing the danger Gabite could be in if the Dragon Breath managed to hit. _Latios' quick._

Latios cooed before jerking his head back and taking a deep breath, all in a matter of a second. Gabite heard his trainer and realized the danger as he jumped in the air. As Latios' eyes glowed red, blue waves surrounded his mouth and eventually, he fired a wave of light blue energy. Even as Gabite flew across the field, Latios redirected his attack and stopped only when he'd hit his target. Ash's Gabite cried aloud as he crashing to the ground.

And this was the power Ash was afraid of. It was clear how much more efficient Latios was in using his Dragon Breath than he was at using Dragon Claw. The trainer from Pallet clenched his fists, all the time in thought about the next move he could make.

"Use Dragon Breath again!" Tobias screamed, the opportunity to finish this battle off right then too good for him to let go.

"Dig now," Ash said. He'd regained some calmness that he would need to even keep up in a battle of such high stakes. "And wait for me to call the next attack!"

As Latios charged for another one of his deadly Dragon Breaths, Gabite recovered, albeit shakily, and used his sharp claws to full effect, digging a hole in the battlefield. That was what made Latios stop his attack; Gabite had disappeared underground.

Tobias didn't lose his calm though. He held the upper hand in this battle and there appeared no need for him to go out and make an unnecessary move. He was fine waiting and letting Ash have the first go. Not that he would let his Pokemon get hit; he wanted a perfect victory and although he recognized that Ash and Gabite could prove to be some sort of a challenge to his Latios, he also believed that his Pokemon's strength alone was more than enough to cover for that.

Ash on the other side of the battle gritted his teeth after he'd realized what Tobias was after. He had to make a move. He couldn't win this match by just having Gabite hidden underground. For him to defeat this Latios, he had to call Gabite out.

_I hope we get this right. _"Gabite, get close and use Dragon Pulse!" Ash shouted.

As soon as Ash had given a command to him, Gabite shot out of the ground with a pulsating ball of bluish energy ready in his mouth. He was close to Latios but not too close that he could be taken by surprise if Latios countered with an attack of his own. Eventually when he'd gathered enough power, the Land Shark Pokemon fired the beam of draconic energy at his opponent. Latios' speed proved too much though; Tobias' Dragon dodged the Dragon Pulse with relative ease.

This wasn't how Ash had planned out the first matchup in the Lily of the Valley final would go for him. He'd planned for a much closer battle, even if it was against a Legendary Pokemon. Thus far, Latios had dominated. His Gabite hadn't been able to even get close to leaving a scratch on Latios.

Ash took a deep breath inside and closed his eyes for a couple of moments. He needed to get his act together; he was thinking too much about what more could go wrong in this fight. This wasn't like him; even in the toughest of situations, Ash had always stayed optimistic. Here, he needed to be confident. If he was, he could win. He truly believed he could.

As he opened his eyes back, he now had a much better view of the situation. Tobias was way ahead of him right now but he had a perfect plan to counter it. The reason he'd chosen Gabite over his other Pokemon; it was time he made use of Gabite's ability.

"Get back here, Gabite," he called out to his Pokemon sharply; he looked much more confident at this moment that he'd looked in this battle so far. "Do it, Dragon Dance!"

The move Ash called took even Tobias by surprise as evidenced by his eyes widened. "Latios, Ice Beam!"

Ignoring whatever happened around him, Gabite solely focused on the move that he'd just recently learned. First, his body became surrounded in a red, misty aura that sparkled blue before the Dragon-type loosened his arms to the side and focused his eyes solely at the sky. All the while Gabite prepared his Dragon Dance, Latios charged a white and shiny ball of crystal-like ice in his mouth, preparing to use the attack that would do a tremendous amount of damage to a Dragon and Ground-type Pokemon like Gabite.

As everyone in the stadium waited for Gabite to finish his Dragon Dance, Latios too had prepared for his Ice Beam as he shot the frozen ice at his opponent. However, just as the Ice Beam neared, Gabite had finished his Dragon Dance. And, it had an immediate effect as he effectively dodged the Ice Beam with his now enhanced speed. Another Ice Beam followed Gabite but once again, he was able to dodge it with ease.

"Awesome, Gabite!" Ash cheered as a victorious grin spread across his face. Gabite had mastered that move after training for a long time and his efforts were about to pay dividends. "Dragon Claw, go!"

Gabite nodded and charged at Latios with his new speed confusing the Eon Pokemon. Even the Legendary Dragon looked a bit uneasy as Gabite neared him with his right claw glowing with draconic energy. The power that Gabite's claw held appeared to be much intense than the one he'd managed to tie with earlier. As Gabite slashed his Dragon Claw at Latios, he managed to narrowly escape due to his ability to fly. Although he wasn't so lucky when Gabite leapt in the air himself and brought down his Dragon Claw with full force.

Tobias for the first time lost his composure in this battle, if not for the first time in the entire Sinnoh League as he gritted his teeth in frustration. "Get up, Latios!" he snapped as he moved his hand out of his cloak and pointing his finger at his opponent's Pokemon. "Ice Beam again!"

But even though he was under pressure and had snapped, he didn't lose focus in the battle. Latios had suffered serious damage from the Dragon Claw but he was anything but finished. As Ash cried for Gabite to get away, Latios regained his shape and fired the Ice Beam at Gabite, whose speed didn't help him in the air.

The fact that Latios recovered so quickly even after taking damage from a move like Dragon Claw which was powered up due to Gabite using Dragon Dance, didn't sit too well with Ash. To add to his Gabite didn't appear in the best of shapes either as he struggled to get back to his feet. His only Dragon-type Pokemon wouldn't last very long after taking a direct hit from a powerful Ice Beam.

One more move like that and Tobias would have easily gotten the first win. And Gabite surely realized that. He wasn't done yet. He had much more to prove. And he would.

Everyone could only watch in awe as Gabite body became shrouded in shining silver light that almost blinded them. They could see that Gabite's body had begun to grow and change as well. As the light vanished, the Pokemon that came in sight was a much bigger beast than his unevolved form. Garchomp roared and announced his arrival before glaring down at Latios.

"You knew that as you were, you couldn't defeat Latios so you evolved," Ash mumbled, beaming proudly at his newly evolved Garchomp.

* * *

In the commentary box, Alder put a hand on his chin as he leaned towards the screen that gave him a better look at Ash's Garchomp. "Say Cynthia," he called out to the Sinnoh Champion who turned her attention to him. "Isn't Ash's Garchomp somewhat bigger in size than yours?"

Cynthia rolled her eyes at Alder's attempt at comedy. "What did you expect? Mine's a girl."

Wallace smiled at Cynthia from beside her. "So are you, but I can't say you're any smaller than most guys."

* * *

Before Ash could even give him a command though, Garchomp took flight, using his legs to give him the required power to get in the air, and with speed faster than what he showed before, he headed right towards Latios. As he did, his fangs which had also grown after his evolution, enlarged and surrounded themselves in a purplish-black aura. Neither Tobias nor Latios had a counter for the Crunch attack that Garchomp had just learned, resulting in a solid hit to Latios as Garchomp dug his fangs deeper and deeper into his enemy.

Had Latios not resisted and shot a Dragon Breath, Garchomp would have continued his attack. He loved biting anything and everything and he knew that that habit would now become his weapon as well.

"That was Crunch," Ash said in shock, jaw wide before a smile broadened on his features. He didn't lose his concentration though as a serious expression covered his smile a moment later. "We are facing a Legendary Pokemon so we have to be careful, Garchomp." He told his Pokemon, who gazed right in his eyes and nodded immediately along with a friendly roar.

Tobias shook his head, finally acknowledging that he wouldn't be able to relax now that he was facing a Garchomp and not a Gabite. This would make it tougher for him to defeat Ash's first Pokemon but it would be much more enthralling nonetheless.

And on expected lines, there were roars and cheers all around the stadium after Garchomp had finished his move. And they still continued with no signs of stopping. In fact, they were cheering from even before the battle had begun but they had just turned much louder. They were in for a battle for the ages.

* * *

**Alright, firstly, if you noticed and thought that having Garchomp learn Dragon Dance was an error on my part, then I'll tell you it's completely stupid on the creator's part that a Pokemon of the Garchomp evolution line cannot use Dragon Dance. I think that they did that because they didn't want Garchomp to become too OP in the games since a Dragon Dance on a Pokemon with Attack and Speed stats like Garchomp would make him too powerful in competitive Pokemon gaming.**

**And again, I apologize for not writing a chapter sooner and I apologize again for this incomplete chapter. **

**Thanks for reading and I hope you'll stick around until I update again, which will probably be very soon.**


	14. Author's Note! I am back!

_**Hey there everyone! Merry Christmas!**_

_**It's that time of the year again, huh? Time moves quickly. I remember this time last year I was writing the chapters proceeding the Sinnoh League final, which made me realize that I've made absolutely no progress in "A Legend Awakened" throughout 2016. The only thing I've written is that mini chapter, that was meant to be a teaser for the final battle.**_

_**How've all of you been doing? How's the Pokemon fanfiction world developed after the release of Sun and Moon? **_

_**These are the sort of questions that crowded my mind as I logged into my fanfiction account today. Finally, I am ready to end my very, very long hiatus and resume writing again. In fact, I've already started writing the next chapter. Don't worry you'll be able to get to the battle between Tobias and Ash very soon.**_

_**I have progressed just a little bit into the next chapter today but that was more of me getting back into writing. I think I've the inspiration back to continue my writing. You should expect the next chapter in the next few or so days, with the final match of the Sinnoh League moving forward in it.**_

_**Anyway, I want to thank all of you who've stuck around for so long without getting bored of me making you wait. I really appreciate it. I decided to publish this Author's note because there have been a huge amount of people messaging me in the last few months asking when I'd publish the next chapter of this story. **_

_**Thanks again for sticking around for so long and don't worry, I'll be publishing the next chapter in about 3-4 days, and hopefully, I'll be able to publish more chapters in the coming weeks since I've got days off until the second week of Jan.**_

_**See you next chapter!**_


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